‘Hear our stories, feel our pain:’ students rally against racially charged hate crimes

On Oct. 17, the Black Student Union (BSU) and Minority Scholars Program (MSP) organized an anti-racist rally to demand action and accountability for the administration’s “compliant silence and lack of action.”

The rally was a direct response to an incident on May 20, when a freshman printed out the n-word at the top of 1,000 separate sheets of paper. The event was followed by several other documented incidents of anti-Black hate, with little action taken by administration in the months following, according to rally organizers. “We’ve been trying to shed light on incidents of anti-Black racism that have been happening throughout the school, and they’ve always been put on the bottom of the list, so this rally was to say ‘we’re not more important than any other group, but we’ve been shut down for too long so it’s time that we’re at the forefront of this.’ It reflects greatly on the culture that’s been established in Montgomery County Public Schools,” senior Leila Khademian said.

Led by senior BSU co-presidents Khademian and Teemo Taiwo, over 100 students participated in the rally. It began in the courtyard near the history hallway, where Khademian and Taiwo led chants such as “Wake up MCPS/Wootton, it’s time for change,” and “Speak on it, stand on it, act on it.” Attendees carried pre-made signs, created by BSU and MSP students two days prior.

Students and staff marched throughout the first floor, gathering more participants along the way. As the group reached the gym, the crowd had grown, their chants louder and more unified. At the front of the march, BSU members held a banner reading “1000 words, 1000 wounds, 1000 failures, 1 solution: end anti-Black racism.”

Once inside the gym, the rally transitioned into an assembly where various MSP and BSU members gave speeches, sharing personal stories and frustrations. Speakers included MSP president, senior Jade Claude, MSP restorative chair Naima Co-Khaliq, co-sponsor of the MSP, English teacher Sidney Wollmuth, BSU and SGA treasurer, junior Charlie Rollins, MSP vice president and SGA member, Maddy Matthew and special education teacher Freda Jones.

Wollmuth, who had only begun teaching at the beginning of the second semester last year, expressed concern about the racist remarks and microaggressions she immediately witnessed in the community, and her worry about speaking of them to her students. “Wootton can become an anti-racist space, but educators need to step away from their fear and get things right,” Wollmuth said in her speech.

Jones gave the final speech in the gym before students were led to the front of the school. In Jones’ speech, she condemned the administration for their inaction. “One word meant to dehumanize and undermine our world was printed 1,000 times. The silence that followed this act was crushing, even from those who should’ve stood with us. It was [students’] cries and relentless call of justice that broke through that silence,” Jones said.

As the lunch period drew to a close and a portion of participants went to their classes, students marched to the front of the school for the rally’s conclusion. Despite the rally’s call for change, some attendees were left questioning: “What was the one solution that all the posters were mentioning?” It was tough for some of the students who organized the event to pinpoint what the intended outcome was, but BSU sponsor, English teacher and restorative justice coach Lindsey Vance had a message for students all along. “Students shouldn’t be doing adults’ jobs. The adults have heard you and we are working diligently to ensure that you go to school in an environment that embraces you. To students: keep going. While progress is slow, I continue to believe that the arc of the moral universe is directed towards justice,” Vance said.