Worcester Public Schools has formally launched its Stand Against Racism campaign in response to racist comments directed at student-athletes from South High Community School earlier this year.
Doherty Memorial High School hosted a districtwide assembly Sept. 29, bringing together students, teachers, administrators, elected officials and representatives of the YWCA of Central Massachusetts and Worcester NAACP to launch the campaign.
In March, the administration and School Committee addressed racist rhetoric targeting Worcester student-athletes following a contest between South High and Andover High School. The incident drew significant public attention and led the district to partner with the NAACP and YWCA to encourage students to take a stand against stereotypes, prejudice and derogatory language.
Superintendent Brian Allen said that while the South High incident was a catalyst for the campaign, the initiative is intended to confront a broader trend that district officials believe can no longer be ignored.
“We are standing here today because of a truth we can no longer afford to whisper,” said Allen. “Our student athletes have been targeted. You have stepped onto the fields, courts, and tracks to represent your school and the City of Worcester with pride, skill, and heart only to be met with cowardly racist slurs from the sidelines or posts on social media. That ends today. It is time for the entire Worcester Public Schools to draw a line in the sand.”
The assembly featured speakers from the NAACP, YWCA and school committee, as well as U.S. Rep. James McGovern, who condemned the racist rhetoric and stressed the importance of taking action. Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell and South High senior and student-athlete Olive White also addressed students.
For White, the pledge carried particular significance. Student-athletes from her school were the targets of the incident that helped prompt the campaign. She told students that taking a pledge requires more than simply reciting its words.
“A pledge that lives only on paper is just noise,” White said. “When we pledge to stand against racism and speak against unfairness it means breaking the uncomfortable silence. Real peace is not the absence of conflict achieved by staying silent. Real peace is the presence of justice attained by speaking up, even when it makes people uncomfortable.”
Campbell, the first Black woman elected to statewide office in Massachusetts, told students that prejudice and racism can take many forms, from judgments based on skin color to comments about a person’s hair. She also stressed that the campaign represents a beginning rather than an end to the work.
“At the end of the day we can stand up here and talk about what we’re going to do,” said Campbell, “but it doesn’t matter if you don’t cement in your heart that when you look at another human being that they are indeed a human being. It really is your generation that’s going to have to exercise the leadership to ensure that Massachusetts not only remains the greatest state to live and work, but that it is a commonwealth that welcomes everyone, values them, and, most importantly, gives them all the tools to reach their full potential.”
The assembly concluded with students standing together to recite the Stand Against Racism pledge, committing to speak out against racism and support their fellow students.
