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As she fi nished, the instructor o™ ered a warning:
"Be careful who you pick to work with for this
project. I've seen a lot of friend groups break apart
because of it."
The students looked around, puzzled.
What's she talking about?
It was a Christian school. Although
Christina had just transferred to the
school the year before, she'd met a good
group of friends.
They went to one another's homes
to work on the project.
Then one day, Christina turned in
her part of the assignment, but had to
miss a meeting.
The next day, everything had changed.
Suddenly, her friends weren't friendly anymore.
They still spoke to her, but otherwise she became
invisible to them. She'd been excluded from the group.
When she tried to befriend another group, there
seemed to be no place for her.
Christina was only one of three African
American students in her grade. For the
fi rst time since transferring to the school,
she felt the sharp pain of racism.
Soon it became more than just feelings.
Someone made a caricature of her—
with racial slurs.
On the school bus, boys sitting behind
her talked about racism against Black people.
The
Power To
Overcome
CHRISTINA GORDON SAT TAKING NOTES
AS THE TEACHER IN HER 11TH GRADE HONORS ENGLISH
CLASS EXPLAINED THE NEXT ASSIGNMENT. WORKING IN
GROUPS, STUDENTS WERE TO USE AUDIO AND VIDEO
ELEMENTS TO DEMONSTRATE A CULTURE'S STORY OF
THE ORIGIN OF THE EARTH.
"I knew
without a doubt
that I had to
forgive the kids
who'd rejected
me."
by Melanie Hemry
