Opinion

Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday that is celebrated by both the United States and Canada. On this day, we gather with our loved ones for a meal and express gratitude for our blessings and the fall harvest. Expressing gratitude is something we don’t do enough of these days, which is what has made Thanksgiving so special. It has been a tradition in which many of us pour our hearts and souls into, and has been a learning experience for us all as we learn to reflect on what they are thankful for.

Despite what a great holiday this is being shown as on the outside, many of us don’t realize the true story behind Thanksgiving, and how it is not all rainbows and sunshine. In fact, it was anything but peace and harmony between the Pilgrims and Native Americans. This holiday marks the day where land was stolen from the Native Americans, which is why it is considered, by a lot, a national day of mourning. The horrendous acts of the pilgrims on this day are a symbol of racism, which has been one of the biggest issues in our world for centuries. This holiday is called “Thanksgiving” because it was a unity between the Wampanoag and the Pilgrims. However, many disregard the greater context of the settlers’ and Native Americans’ relationship, especially within the context of United States history. I need not mention the Trail of Tears, the Indian Removal Act, or perhaps the entire presidency of Andrew Jackson, which led to the deaths of literally thousands of Native Americans. These are merely words that can only somewhat reflect the cruel, immoral, and inexcusable actions towards Native Americans.

A lot of us don’t realize the truth about Thanksgiving and don’t look at it that way when celebrating. We enjoy it as having a feast and spending time with extended family. This holiday should continue to be a time where we get together and show gratitude for each other. However, we really need to take the time to recognize the dark truth behind this holiday, and use it as a reminder for ourselves to be kind and inclusive, and shed light on the existing issues of racism and genocide from the brutal massacre. Thanksgiving should no longer be taken lightly, and should no longer be called “Thanksgiving”. Instead, more suitable names include “National Day of Listening'' or “National American Heritage Month”. These names shed more light onto the real issues behind this holiday, and we as people have the responsibility to educate ourselves on the reality of this world and to take action.

(My Hero Academia Poster, Amazon)

If you look around the city of Champaign or Central High School, I can bet you won’t see one item in particular, the Illinois State Flag. Though they can be located at government owned buildings, inside places like the North Gym of Central High School the only flag hanging is the American Flag. This is the same for about every high school in the Unit 4 school district. If you look outside Central High School only an American flag can be seen flying on the pole in front of the school, though I feel like the Illinois flag should receive just as much pride.

Over the course of my life, I have moved to the southern states which have some of the strongest pride for their statehood in the entire nation. Whether it’s through symbolism like the Georgia peaches, or the 30 ft long Texas State Flag flying in random small towns. Though, when I moved to Illinois there was one common factor across not only the state, but the midwest. The state flag was only flown at government owned buildings, not even in schools. Even though it’s not a major problem across the state, it was always strange going from states where their flags are flown even in the smallest towns to a state where the only cities you always see the flag are major cities involving the government, like Springfield, which is the state capital.

To get the facts I interviewed Mr. Goslin. During the interview, one of the most common answers to come up was that the flag is mainly only flown in “important or government owned buildings.” An example of this was the comparison between the flag being flown next to the Champaign County Courthouse while it’s not flown at Unit 4 schools. Mainly because the courthouse is known “more as an institution than a school district.” The only time there is actually a unit taught over Illinois itself is when learning about the Illinois Constitution before taking the state constitution test before graduating. Though there isn’t a specific class you can take at Central High to learn only about Illinois state history with the exception of Illinois government classes. Mr. Goslin also told me that there used to be a hallway in the middle of the second floor that was decorated with flags. When a student from another country would come to the school, they’d put up their home country’s flag. Then at the end of the hallway there would have been hung a Illinois state flag along with the American flag. Sadly, due to renovations, the flags aren’t currently hung up and the staff aren’t sure if they’ll rehang them. Mr Goslin along with other Central alumni and staff such as Ms. Dittmer shared that they enjoyed having the hallways and seeing other nation’s flags flown.

Finally, I interviewed our principal, Mr. Williams. Principal Williams told me that “for becoming principal the Illinois state flag was never flown.” Mr. Williams has been principal of Central High School since 2008, meaning for at least 13 years the flag hasn’t been flown outside the school or in any area apart from the old flag hallway.

Though there was one singular conclusion that was also mentioned by Mr. Goslin, statehood. It related back to the Civil War; while the South was fighting for states rights the North was fighting for America as a whole. Even when the war ended, Southern states (like the ones I lived in) taught their kids early on about statehood and to be proud of it, but in the North, it’s taught to mainly just love your country. In which I think that answers my question: “Why does Central not fly the state flag?” The conclusion is that statehood isn’t largely influenced here or taught deeply in schools. Even though the flag is most likely to not be flown at Central, I still feel as if we need to show our state a little love.

On November 5th,2021 there was a school lockdown. This was a day I thought I was going to lose my life, the day I didn't have a phone on me, the day I will never forget.

In the first 5 minutes of the lockdown, I thought that it was just a lockdown drill. Then, we were in our 3rd hour class for half of our 4th hour class. That's when I started to worry and begin asking questions like, “what's going on?” and ”why aren’t we going to our next class?”. My 3rd hour teacher explained everything to me and my fellow classmates. Everyone started talking and calling home to their parents. I was trying not to panic as much.

It is important that people understand what goes on in students’ heads during a lockdown like this. I was nervous, didn't know what was going on, and I didn't know why we had to go on lockdown. My fellow classmates were saying different things, which made me feel confused really scared. It was just all over the place. Some people were trying to call their parents, while others were yelling. The intercom was very low, so we could barely hear it, as if it was whispering.

I was freaking out. I didn't know what to do or what to think. I started to panic because I didn't have my phone on me, which is uncommon because I always carry my phone with me. I couldn't get a hold of my parents and tell them what was going on. I wasn't scared to death because I knew that it wasn't that serious, because it was a soft lockdown. The administrators explained to us at the beginning of the year that a soft lockdown is a dangerous situation that is happening either close enough to the building that we need to go on lockdown or a little incident, that's not a big deal, but could lead to something that could cause a big impact. Hard lockdown is when there's a violent intruder in the building, someone has a weapon, a threat, or anything that could lead to death.

After a while, there was an email sent out to all fellow students and administrators from Mr.Williams the principal, that there was a nonviolent intruder in the building. The intruder was going around asking students random questions, asking questions that they were unfamiliar with some students say it made them feel uncomfortable. When I found out that there was an intruder in the building, my automatic fear is that someone was going to leave the building with bullet holes and a few victims. I’m thinking, ”what am I gonna do, will this be my last breath?”. After 10 minutes the lockdown had finally ended ,5 minutes after that they changed our school bell into a late start so we had the rest of the day a late start day.

We started getting IDs because the bus isn't free anymore. In my opinion, kids should start showing their Id’s at the entrance of the school doors, so the staff and administrators of Central High School can identify them as a school student. We would be safe, no incidents, and I think that it would be safer, the community would be safer, and the staff, principals, teachers and students that go to Central High School would be safe.

It's important for people to understand kids point of view, in any situation, lockdown or not. People should understand that kids have feelings too ,they can feel as well. Kids do adult things as well, once you’re a teen you go through phases, anxiety, depression, all sorts of feelings. That is why it is important to understand from a kids perspective, even if that kid goofs around and jokes a lot. You should always believe a kid when they’re trying to tell you something.

Overall, myself and my fellow students at Central High made it to their next classes safely. Some students might have forgotten or didn't care, however they wanted to put it. I will never forget the day I thought I was going to lose my life.

Around two months ago, a recently released indie game came under fire. The unabashedly queer dating sim and dungeon Boyfriend Dungeon, where players must fight through various dungeons and are allowed to romance humans who can turn into various sentient weapons, was called out for a sensitive plotline which involves stalking and emotional manipulation. This eventually led to the developer, Kitfox, to update the game’s content warning, but many fans demanded that there should be an opt-out completely option for the plotline altogether. A lot of this backlash reportedly came from progressive and queer players. The controversy made me wonder: what does being queer in media get to mean?

I should preface this by saying that no piece of media is ever going to be perfect, especially when it revolves around the multi-faceted topics of race, gender, class, and sexuality. There’s never going to be one right answer because those things mean drastically different things to different people. Because we aren’t able to understand everyone’s experience, we’re going to make mistakes. What seems like good representation to one queer person may be harmful and upsetting for another. A vital and healthy part of consuming media is critiquing it: taking it apart and putting it back together. Starting dialogue around various aspects of media, especially representation, is a necessity to being more aware of the world and our place in it.

However, I’ve noticed that queer creatives are hesitant to depict their queer characters in a less than favorable light. I myself am guilty of this during my sophomore year’s acting class where I decided to play Malvolio from Twelfth Night as a woman. What seemed like an exciting opportunity for a character study and exploring the differences in Malvolio operating in this world as a sapphic woman, quickly turned into constant worrying over how problematic making Mavolio queer would be. Malvolio (or Malvolia in Central’s production) receives no happy ending and spends the show’s finale cursing revenge on the other characters before stumbling away alone and broken-hearted. While the gender switch had been something that brought me a lot of joy, it was overshadowed by my fear of causing more harm to my community. Was I, as a queer woman, being homophobic in my desire to portray the character this way?

This begs the question of what representation is allowed to be considered good representation? When it comes to queer characters getting a happy ending, there are genres like horror, thriller, and sci-fi where it’s quite normal for the bulk of the cast not to make it to the final page or credits. Leaving queer side characters unscathed despite no narrative significance as to why would come off as strange.

Here’s the issue: There’s enough truly harmful depictions of the community as it is. We’ve seen plenty of same-sex couples who meet tragic ends (the bury-your-gays trope), gay best friends, and every variation of queer characters being portrayed as idiotic, unfaithful, or downright predatory and violent (not to mention the rampant fetishization of queer relationships in media). There’s merit in desiring to see more positive stories where queer characters are allowed to just exist without reliving trauma and pain over and over again. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to see queer joy represented more often. Along with that, queer people are finally getting more positive representation and acceptance in these recent years. While we’ve come a long way, there is still a lot of misinformation and prejudice surrounding the community, things that could be influenced by media depictions.

Due to that, it might seem like the wrong call to create darker characters or narratives around a group of people. But what about queer readers, viewers, and players who want to explore their own, messy relationship with their identity? “Creating honest queer art often means reflecting and unpacking what queerness means to the artist,” Kylan Coats, creator of an upcoming queer space opera Long Journey to an Uncertain End stated in an interview with PCGamer. So don’t queer people deserve to see stories that depict alternative expressions of their identities in a not-always-positive light? Shouldn’t we be allowed to be more than objects of inspiration all the time?

So why might queer people actually want these types of stories and characters? One reason is to share their own personal stories. The extent of the harm queer people face in real life isn’t something many people are aware of. If it’s something they choose to share, queer people deserve the chance to put these narratives in the world. While the topics are difficult to digest at times, they are very real and can and should be exposed.

A lot of queer readers and viewers can also find comfort and enjoyment reading similar things to what they’ve experienced because of their identity. It could be as simple as enjoying more “problematic” stories, and liking queer characters. Their choices of media consumption shouldn’t be any less valid than those of queer folk who prefer to see themselves in more uplifting storylines.

As a writer and reader, I’ve loved consuming media my whole life, practically devouring books upon books when I was younger. I'm a firm believer in a character’s choices, strengths, flaws, and ideals being prioritized over anything else. Viewing these complex queer characters as “people who make bad choices who just happen to be queer” may seem less severe than simply just “bad queer people”. While a character’s identity does affect their experience, it is simply there to add layers. The main facet of a character should always be the person and what they do and believe.

Stories, when created, are never going to be interpreted the exact same way. The meanings behind a text depends on the viewer and will always have different impacts based on the person. Rudine Sims Bishop, often referred to as the “mother of multicultural children's literature”, said that stories can be “windows, mirrors, and sliding glass doors.” Windows allow you to look into someone else’s experience, sliding doors let the reader enter a story and become a part of the world, and mirrors are reflections of the reader and help build their identity. No queer person will have the same experience as another, there’s far too much intersectionality. We are not a monolith, there’s not one correct way to be queer, nor will we ever as a whole agree and disagree on the topic of good representation. Therefore, we should allow stories that give us the chance to peer into different experiences and deserve stories to look to and feel validated. Straight people get every variation of representation, hero and villain, joyful and tragic, so why shouldn’t we?

On Tuesday October 5, 2021, students arrived at Central High School to find a line wrapped around the building of students waiting to be searched. On October 12, 2021, the district voted to have permanent metal detectors installed in both high schools to try to mandate the recent violence that has been occurring inside and outside the walls of these schools.

The need for extra precaution within Champaign high schools has gone up in the past month due to recent threats, acts of gun violence, and overall violence within our student body. And while metal detectors may solve part of the problem, they may not be effective enough.

The debate on whether or not the precautionary measures are at all effective has caused quite a stir within the Champaign community. While some argue that with the amount of students who are standing outside, it would make an easy target for any aggressor who tries to inflict harm on Central’s campus. The other side acknowledges the need for these measures in order to ensure a safe learning and teaching environment for both students and staff.

I believe that there is a need for extra measures to ensure safety within Central, but measures that are organized and effective. As students, we shouldn’t have to walk into school with the fear of being harmed, we should be able to sit down and learn without a worry of violence. If the system was more organized and students were able to go through quickly, it would reduce the stress put on teachers when their first period class gets cut short. It would also be safer for students because we wouldn’t have to wait in long lines in big groups.

The measures of extra precaution are necessary to keep the Central community safe, but the lack of organization that comes with these measures also has inflicted a great amount of stress upon the students and staff.

When was the last time you felt safe at school? With the pandemic taking us by storm and the shootings in Champaign drastically increasing, school is feeling more and more unsafe. With our peers dying in the streets, teens are having to find ways to feel safe in an unsafe world. Personal defense and safety items such as pepper spray, glass breakers, and even safety whistles are crucial to the comfort of our students. We do not live in school; our safety goes further than on campus.

Central recently conducted a bag searches and confiscated several student personal defense items in the name of school safety. At first glance, it may look like a reasonable rule, decreasing the risk of personal defence items being used in fights, assault and bullying on campus. However, in reality, this not only renders students unsafe when they walk home without these itsem, itn creates tension between administrators and the student body, as well as between peers. It is unfair and unrealistic to expect students to leave their personal defense items at home; we have lives outside of school, we walk from bus stops, home, and travel around town where we may need personal protection. It is easy for those who have not experienced first hand discrimination to detach themselves from the reality that women, queer people, and students of color, specifically Black students, are targeted outside of school and have to take matters into our own hands in regards to protection. We are taught from a young age to always be ready for the worst, and what the school is asking us to do is unethical: dismiss all of our lifelong “training” because of a rule? The amount of female and queer students who get harassed inside the school building and on campus is already unacceptable, imagine what it's like off campus.

We should be allowed to take our protection into our own hands. The increase of police and metal detectors is not going to fix the fundamental problem that minoritized students do not feel safe outside of school. How are we supposed to trust in a system that is built to fail us?

Central student, Lars Anderson, reports that they were suspended for bringing a personal defense item to school. Lars took their time away from school to pen an open letter denouncing the school’s policy and explaining their point of view. Lars sent this letter to Superintendent Sheila Boozer, Principal Joe Williams, and Assistant Principal Bryan Yacko. The Chronicle is publishing this open letter in its entirety, below.

Good afternoon,

It has come to my attention that the confiscation of student's items has gotten out of hand.

On Tuesday (10/5/21), my pepper spray was confiscated by a staff member as I was going through a bag check, and I was told that I would not be able to get it back whatsoever. I would be happy to have someone call my legal guardian to pick up my personal protection, or have an officer deliver it to my home today. Whatever the case may be, it is not the school's property to have and it is far from illegal to hold pepper spray and other personal protection in the state of Illinois for self defence. (such as; glass breakers, personal alarms, etc.)

I am now being suspended for 3 days because you all classify pepper spray as a "weapon" according to the rules that are put in place.

I regularly carry pepper spray on my person for my own personal protection. Now I know that this may be alarming seeing the ridiculous rule that we cannot have that in school because it is deemed as a "weapon". However it is not directly intended for an in-school use, instead as a precaution outside of school, because I am forced to walk places and I am usually walking alone. Along with that, not only has my legal guardian given me the right to protect myself but I would never use pepper spray on someone if I did not have a reason to do so. This rule that is in place is a huge problem for me as a queer person who is visibly feminine presenting because I am usually not safe walking down the street alone, unlike a straight, white, cisgender male who is.

I, along with countless other students, do not have the privilege of walking from place to place alone without fear of violence or danger inflicted by another person. The amount of hate crimes and deaths that happen to people like me every day and go unnoticed by any news or law enforcement is too many to take that risk of being unprotected. I, myself have had personal experiences with close calls of hate crimes a couple times THIS YEAR alone. Times where groups of people would be happy to shoot me dead or beat me until I am unconscious just because of the way I am dressed. This is real, and I don't know why it is so difficult for you all to understand that queer people and women especially are at risk every day, both outside of school, and in school. Not to mention the assaults that happen to women and girls inside school walls that go unnoticed by staff.

You send your condolences to students that are victims of gun violence all the time, but when it is a student who is in danger of violence and / or death because someone had a problem with seeing a gay person on the street or someone wants to assault a girl walking to or from school, it is suddenly not your problem because you only want to enforce your petty rules, some of which make no sense, that literally make us unsafe? We just cannot have personal protection under any circumstances whilst coming to or from school? Make it make sense.

The fact that students such as myself are given punishments that could end up on our permanent record for things that we need to be safe clearly shows where your priorities lay. And this shows not only laziness on the Unit 4 Staff's part, but that you would rather enforce punishment than to actually take the time to care about students and our needs.

Thank you for your consideration,

Lars Anderson

There are various reasons that people choose to have abortions. In May of 2021, Texas passed a law that prohibits people from having an abortion beyond six weeks of pregnancy. The fact that this type of decision should ever have to be made is absolutely heartbreaking, and so difficult to wrap our minds around.

Whether or not to have an abortion is a very personal and serious decision. Some of the reasons why people have abortions include being financially unstable, health issues, and unintended intercourse with another person. This law puts Texan people in great crisis and has the potential to put them in very uncomfortable and harmful situations.

I believe that the Supreme Court needs to reconsider their Texas abortion law, because it is a violation of human rights. Whether or not to have an abortion is entirely a human’s choice. Every human has a fundamental right to freedom of choice and control over his or her own life, and pregnancy is no exception. A choice regarding pregnancy and having a child are based on a person’s own circumstances, values, and preferences. A person having a child as a teen could result in them needing to quit school. A single parent may have to work more jobs and find daycare, and their families might reject them for being pregnant without being married first. Furthermore, any decision regarding a person’s body should always be taken very seriously. It is extremely hard on a person’s body to be pregnant and give birth, and choices involving our bodies are crucial to our health in the long run. Such restrictions put people’s health, safety, and well-being in jeopardy.

Moreover, health and freedom are crucial to our lives. Easing abortion restrictions is no exception, and would make many people feel more respected about their rights and decisions. Human rights are needed to protect every individual’s humanity. Easing abortion restrictions would very much improve human rights, and therefore, make the world a better place.