Introduction

Castro Valley has had a long and mixed history in terms of its diversity and unity within the community. We cannot shy away from this. For many long-time Castro Valley residents, it’s common knowledge that there was historically persistent racial segregation in housing, and the Ku Klux Klan held a strong presence in the area well into the late 80s and early 90s. Known for many years as primarily a conservative place, it isn’t surprising that people of all backgrounds have found it difficult to find acceptance and to be openly proud about who they are within the Castro Valley community. At the Raising of the Flag Ceremony that took place in 2019, held in protest to the neighboring city of Dublin refusing to fly the LGBTQ+ rainbow pride flag in front of their city hall, one of the longest standing queer teachers within Castro Valley Unified School District described being publicly harassed by students on their first day of work while walking from the Castro Valley BART station around the early 2000s. The students threw food at them and yelled homophobic slurs while driving by, and it wasn’t until 2016 that this teacher saw a student wear a Castro Valley Pride t-shirt to school for the first time.

Over the last two decades, much has changed within Castro Valley. A lot of it has had to do with individual leaders who have stood up and taken on the initiative to make change, but a significant amount of the results we see today were enacted by groups and coalitions within the community who saw the need for a united front against hatred and bigotry. Many members within the community have seen the overlapping nature of the struggles marginalized people face, and have worked not only for the benefit of themselves, but for the benefit of their neighbors. 

Though there have been many waves and iterations of this movement towards progress, there have been incidents that have shaken the community. In 2017, there were multiple instances of bigotry in which the high school was graffitied with racial slurs and a middle school with swastikas. Seemingly emboldened by the current political movement that saw a regression in the strides made towards inclusion and understanding, the community knew that this was merely a sign of a larger problem brewing beneath the surface. 

Since Castro Valley is an unincorporated area, there is no formal leadership or central office of power that sees to residents’ affairs. In many ways, the Castro Valley Unified School District acts as a stand-in; a guiding entity within the community. It was this unique position that the district occupied that allowed it to best address the problems people were seeing in their schools and homes, but administration knew that if they were to truly engage with this issue, they would need to involve the entire community. This is what gave rise to the Castro Valley Community Alliance; an ad-hoc coalition with representatives from the various sects of life within Castro Valley. The Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club, several parent groups, the County Supervisor’s Office, the League of Women Voters, the Castro Valley Public Library, the Eden Interfaith Council, various nonprofits and other county services attended meetings to strategize and create a plan of action to address the hatred people saw percolating within their neighborhoods. 

The purpose of this toolkit is to share the many lessons that Castro Valley Unified School District has learned in its path towards community healing and standing together as a united front. People will continue to make mistakes, but it is through these mistakes that we proceed to learn and grow as human beings in relationship with one another. While the history of the school district can serve as a model for others and be used as inspiration and a foundation to build upon, the circumstances surrounding each and every community is unique and should be treated as such. The things that have worked in one place may not work in another, and it is highly recommended to take into account the many factors that influence folks where you live. In order to optimize the efficacy of a school district’s LGBTQ+ advocacy, it is wise to consult with the various representatives that hold a stake in this work, and to strive towards building a better community together.