Is AISG Racist?

International schools are similar to a blender: you’ve got different types of food all mixed together, but sometimes the blender just explodes and BOOM!—no smoothie for you. It’s 2017, yes, but we still see racist comments and actions in the world; it’s true that many people worldwide have united against racism, but that doesn’t mean that racism has completely vanished. Here at AISG there may not be much direct racism, but some notice a less conscious variety, like a reflex that comes as a natural act to many of us.

I came to AISG during the middle of my freshman year in 2016, and coming from a Spanish background, it surprised me when I found out a group of girls were called “the White girls” and that they supposedly only hung out with “White people.” As I became familiar with my new school I was introduced to the “Korean” and “Asian” groups, but what was really shocking was that these groups only had girls in them, and not guys. Overall, the idea that female social groups were determined by race was a new and unexpected perspective I had of international schools, but I have realized that it is a reality that few can deny if they observe AISG students socializing.

Curious about what others thought about this phenomenon, I decided to ask some of my peers for their opinions. When I asked students to comment on this issue, many of them wished to remain anonymous—telling me right away that this is a sensitive concern.

First, I asked how they thought the tendency of students hanging out with others from the same racial background affects our community. An anonymous 12th grader said, “I believe it has a negative effect—even though you’re still in an international school, you are closing off all the amazing opportunities to learn about different cultures and people.” Then, when I asked what students could do to expand their group of friends, s/he said, “It really depends on which countries: just as an example, you can see how some of the Koreans are very secluded*, they never really try to bond or really get to know people from other races; they’re nice but they don’t show you the willingness to really make a connection.”

Talking to another student, I asked if s/he thought our school would be better  if there was more cultural mixture amongst students. This 11th grader replied, “I think our school is somewhat mixed. If people did maybe perhaps open themselves a little bit more, it would make the community a little bit [welcoming].” I also asked if s/he believed that there was anything the staff and students could do about this, and s/he responded, “I don’t think there’s much that the staff can do, maybe organize group projects with different genders and cultural backgrounds. But I think that it’s students themselves who decide who they want to socialize with and who to talk to.”

I also asked about factors that could affect a student’s life at AISG, such as whether there is White favoritism in our community, a concern others had brought up*. To this, an 11th grader responded, “Yes, for sports many of the ones who get into the team are White people; also, the coaches sometimes show favoritism towards White students.”

Of course, student and staff opinions can be very different; which is why I decided to go deeper and ask a teacher for their insight on the topic. Ms. Dean was kind enough to let me interview her.

Teachers are exposed to students’ behaviors in class constantly, which led me to ask if there is any type of exclusion between students, such as when two students from the same background are in a project with another student from a different culture. To this, Ms. Dean replied, “What I tend to notice the most is that students tend to stick together based on race. I had one time when I had one group of 4 kids working together for a long term project, 3 out of the 4 were Korean, and they kept speaking in Korean to each other because it was the easiest way of communication. But, it left out the other student who did not speak Korean; I had to address the issue and tell them to use a language in which they all could communicate and everyone could have equal access to information. I don’t think they were trying to deliberately exclude the student, I think it came as a natural reflex for them to use a language they can communicate better with.”

I also asked Ms. Dean if she thought that the typical stereotypes were evident in class, such as Koreans being distant when it comes to socializing with people from a different race, or White people being mean; to which she replied, “I have a different perspective of relationships between students, and I know that there is this idea of White kids being meaner. But teenagers are really good at hiding the truth from adults. I do hear bits of gossip in the halls but I haven’t seen any direct stereotypical actions.”

Because Ms. Dean thinks she doesn’t get see the full picture of what happens between students, I decided to ask how she balances the different cultures in her class. Since many teachers are not fond of languages other than English being spoken in class to ensure communication amongst everyone; she answered, “I don’t really have any problems with other languages apart from English spoken in class. It becomes a problem when it excludes other people, but if students are just explaining concepts to each other, I find it to be a brilliant method. I would like to be better about integrating more diverse material into our study, but I don’t have the necessary knowledge about all these different types of cultures to actually talk about them.”

The forming of different groups with the same nationality may be a result of culture; we all come from different backgrounds and have been raised on our parents’ different beliefs and ideas. But still, this can be an issue, as we tend to stereotype people by who they hang out with, especially when it comes to race.

During my first few weeks at AISG as a new student, I was told the different behaviors associated with each race or ethnic group. There are many stereotypes such as Chinese people being loud and, as mentioned above, White people being mean*, among others. The existence of these stereotypes could be a result of students going with others who are from the same racial background; nevertheless, I think these groups can make people feel under the spotlight when it comes to either choosing friends or just talking to students, as they might think that it could be awkward if they joined a different group than the one they are expected to.

Just to clarify, by no means do I think the students at AISG are racist or have racist intentions. So in conclusion: no, I would not say AISG is racist; we can’t expect to see everyone in one group all together, and at the end of day, most of us stick to what we are most familiar with. But I would definitely encourage people to try and expand their social circles and be sure that more races than just their own are represented in their circle of friends.

* These negative quotations and thoughts were preserved intact in the interest of honestly recording student opinions. They do not represent the opinions of the author or the Beacon.

What do you think about the way we interact at AISG? Please share your comments with us below. You can post with your name, but we’re happy to receive your (thoughtful) anonymous comments as well.