Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, 

Most of us have heard Martin Luther King Jr's “I have a dream" speech, where he talked about a time when all people would work together, learn together, pray together, and live together without our skin color creating a difference in how we treat each other. I too believe in Martin Luther King's dream. I remember growing up learning about this speech and thinking that we were all working together to learn to respect one another without the color of our skin forming a barrier for people to connect with each other. Unfortunately, King’s dream has not come true. I can see this because there is still discrimination against people for the color of their skin, There is still discrimination against women and LGBTQ people who are exploited and taken advantage of. Still today, those in poverty, and former foster youth experience a life that Isn’t imaginable, every single day people who look like me or like my friends are murdered by the cops. Black, Indigenous, Native American, and brown people in poverty and those who have grown up in foster care have fewer chances of graduating high school, or college compared to family-privileged people and white people.                    

For example, Native American and Indigenous communities are forgotten and mistreated by the United States government. My people have had all our land taken away to be replaced with tall buildings and power plants that cause pollution. My ancestors were forced away from our homeland and relocated to minor reservations where they had to try to adapt to the land they never knew. We were forced on death marches where many of my ancestors died. My people were forced into boarding schools, placed in residential systems, and put through cultural and tribal genocide. My culture was taken from my people, my people were taken from our families and placed where we would be abused and treated with no respect for our culture. I rarely see any type of recognition for my people in movies, TV shows, or any social media outlet. This type of mistreatment isn’t only forced on Native American and indigenous people though.

The black community has been through tough times too. They were stolen from their homeland and forced into chattel slavery, they have been viewed as less than human. Even the original amendments counted my Black relatives as less than half of a human being when voting. they have been exploited for their rights as a human. Black people today are less likely to get a job than a white man, that also correlates with Black kids not having the same opportunity as white kids to graduate from high school. This may be because they have been stereotyped as having specific conduct, talking differently, and being viewed as mischievous and troublesome. The civil rights movement was a significant movement that had many people of all races fight back against the mistreatment of black-skinned people and the segregation of colored people and white people.

Pacific islanders, Hispanic people, Black-skinned people, Brown-skinned people, and Native American people are all taken advantage of by the US government and by people that don’t know our history and the things that we had to go through, just so that today we can say that we are doing a little better than before. The discrimination that all these communities get today, even with all the work that MLK and many others had to do is unbelievable.

There are even people to this day that think there is a superior race. NO race is better than another and we all need to understand that if there are still people viewing the world this way, we will never have any chance to be a great nation like MLK Jr wanted.

I myself have a dream to share with you. I have a dream that we will all one day learn to respect one another and know the struggles that every one of us goes through. I wish that one day we can put aside our differences and treat each other like we are family.

Dear Editor, 

I thought your readers would enjoy this poem. Thank you.

This is America 

By senior Aubree Najera 

Do my thick thighs that run like golden honey in the sunshine disturb you? Do my Big Brown Curls make you wanna look away? 

Does my wide face given to me by my ancestors passed down from generation to generation worry you? 

Does the way I walk the way I talk Make you run? 

Do the way my big lips move when I speak on the notes of hate make you tingle and ache? Do my eyes the way they rise over you make you shiver and break.? 

Does the simple thought of me make you wanna scream YOU’RE NOT LIKE ME! Good 

I am not like you my skin has golden specks touched by the souls of this country Stretched upon me like a blanket worn and soft. 

My veins and blood are true American history passed down through my mother and father and their mother and father. 

I do not exist for your comfort 

I exist for the sake of America 

I exist to educate the future generations on the fallen and silent for my fingertips are like books pressed together by ink and rough paper. 

And my shoulders lay upon me like crowded towers swaying back and forth Guiding me when to speak 

Guiding me when to act 

And the spaces between my teeth where I breed my words ache from the hate given to my people 

For this country has forgotten the meaning of 

True American 

For this country has forgotten the meaning of 

Me

Dear Editor, 

I’m writing to you today to give you my thoughts on the current state of the school newspaper and possible ways to improve. As a former student at David Douglas, I would occasionally indulge in the school newspaper. It was a great way for me to keep updated on current events relating to school, learn something new, and gain an overall sense of connection with my community. With that being said, I’ve always found myself wanting to find something that made me feel accepted. 

Being a minority, I quickly learned from the trials and tribulations our minds play on us each day. It just seemed like we had to be stronger than everybody else. This is around the time where I learned about the power of self esteem and how it has the potential of being the driving force on your well-being. 

With that being said, I believe that the newspaper should put an emphasis on boosting the schools overall self esteem by using simple practices that acknowledge students more and put down students less. Maybe it’s time to discontinue the “Student of the Month” section? I’ve always felt like it's done more harm than good because it’s always the same people and the majority of the school doesn’t have a chance. Instead, include a “Talent” section (something everyone has) where students display their talents, big or small. Whatever you do going forward, just please keep the students mental health in mind. It’s more important now than ever. 

With Love, 

Ahmed 

Dear Editor,

Many courses at DDHS are only available for certain grade levels and with certain prerequisites. While this seems like a good plan at first, some students may have studied the course material at home or with a tutor, and have obtained the knowledge already. For such cases, being able to take a test to demonstrate proficiency in courses to figure out what level class they can enter would strongly benefit learners at DDHS. 

Regardless of grade level students should be able to pursue accelerated learning. For example, Advanced Biology is not offered to freshmen. However, in the interest of acquiring higher academic achievement, 9th graders should have the ability to take this class as long as they can demonstrate that they understand the required concepts for it. 

In the case that prerequisites cannot be waived, students could be offered the chance to take the advanced course and the prerequisite concurrently. 

Some students would rather learn more challenging topics at high school rather than rehash information that they have already assimilated from previous experiences. Offering students the ability to learn at their level will help them grow, and give them more opportunities outside of high school.

Thank you,

Sincerely,

Sam

Member of the Four Day School Week Campaign