June 1, 2020
Recently, it was brought to the attention of various Choate alumni that a racist email is currently circulating throughout the Choate Rosemary Hall community. Unfortunately, this comes to us as unsurprising. As Choate alumni and donors to the School, it is our prerogative and obligation to demand appropriate action be taken in order to combat racism in the Choate community.
As previously noted, this letter comes after a disturbing email was circulated around campus in regards to the Black Lives Matter protests that have erupted around the country. The email, penned by Conor Brown ’22, was sent to all members of the Choate Young Republicans email list. This email, titled “The George Floyd Protests,” is a racist and ignorant piece of writing. He describes the Los Angeles protesters as “thugs,” restating the President’s racist, coded language. He states this situation reminds him of the protests of 1992. Those protests arose after a trial jury acquitted four white officers who brutally beat Rodney King. In condemning the recent protests of police brutality, Conor makes it clear that he is unaware of this country’s history of racialized violence at the hands of the police. By centering on the fear of his family, he reveals a lack of awareness surrounding the sentiment of fear and mistrust protestors are attempting to speak out against. He is dismissing the fear that black people, indigenous people, and people of color hold every day. While wearing hoodies (Trayvon Martin). While sleeping in bed (Breonna Taylor). While pleading for breath (Eric Garner, George Floyd). The fear that the systems of policing that pledge “to protect and serve,” will not.
Conor implies that these protesters are protesting the systemic repression “of the righteous indignation of the people.” This is far from the truth–protestors are not simply “righteously indignant”–they are pleading for the government to acknowledge and take actions for Black Lives Matter. He goes on to say that these “thugs made their mischief across the street.” This is a blatantly racist and purposeful misinterpretation of the cause of these protests. What Conor has failed to understand is that the protesters aren’t causing “mischief,” they are protesting the murders of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and hundreds of other Black men and women who have died at the hands of the police. Conor also states that Choate embodies the spirit of American optimism, when that cannot be further from the truth. Students of color at Choate are feeling anything but optimistic about the state of America. This statement is naive, self-aggrandizing, and dismissive of people’s right to protest injustice rather than being “optimistic” that the system will magically work itself out.
Misinformed speech is not a catalyst for political discourse. It is a dangerous guise for ignorance, further polarizing the members of our community. Free speech must be protected, but this crosses into the dangerous territory of hate speech, and must be treated as such. It is clear that not only the Choate administration but also Choate’s white students and faculty have not taken accountability and responsibility for the racism that exists on campus. As an educational institution, Choate is failing its students. There have only been a handful of times when white students were held accountable for their racist actions, which only occured after a large and public backlash on behalf of the student body. It shouldn’t take the outcry of students of color for Choate to take action. This is not the first time the Administration has failed to act. This is not the first instance of racist and hateful language on campus. Throughout our years at Choate, there was a shared, well-known sentiment that the Administration holds the interests of White students above those of their Black students.
Again, we fully respect each and every student’s right to express their individual points of view, however, we feel as though Conor Brown misused his platform, and in doing so, deeply offended many members of the Choate community. We urge the Choate administration to condemn his comments because while they may have been made out of ignorance, they were still said, given a platform, and in violation of the school’s values. However, reacting is not enough. The Choate administration must then take proactive steps in changing their educational curriculum to show why comments like this are racist, why they enforce racism, and why racism is fatal for our country and community. This cannot be accomplished in one day devoted to “diversity and inclusion.” Diversity, inclusion, equity, and allyship must be integrated into everyday life at Choate.
We grew up in a world where we have been accustomed to the brutal murders of Black Americans at the hands of the state. Many of these murders occured during our time at Choate. And currently, protests are raging across the country. Why hasn’t the administration taken the step to support these protests, to urge their students to stand in solidarity with Black Americans, to donate to organizations fighting for racial justice? The Administration should release a statement in support of the protests, and condemning the actions of the police. Moreover, we also believe it is in the best interests of the School to donate to bail funds in Minneapolis, Louisville, or Connecticut. It is imperative to back up your statement with a public monetary contribution to also encourage other schools to follow Choate’s example.
This country’s shameful history is already suffocating Black Americans. Choate Rosemary Hall must be an environment where its students and faculty can learn how to breathe. It is your responsibility to tear down the racist institutions deeply embedded into this school’s history and change them and to challenge white students and white faculty to do the same. We cannot wear the Choate name proudly if this school is only “better” than others, if Choate only speaks in relative terms. It is your obligation to your students that you change. It will take greater, more radical action. It should be uncomfortable and terrifying, as is life for Black Americans.
Leaders are catalysts for change, not settlers just for “better.” Therefore, we challenge the Choate Rosemary Hall administration to be leaders in America just as you did for us the first time we stepped onto campus.
For the sake of this country and your students, step up to our challenge, your obligation.
Forever True,
Laila Hawkins ’19, Alice Volfson ’19, Shraya Poetti ’19, Arsh Dhillon ’19
In Solidarity: Evan Karas ’19, Maxwell Gingher ’19, Sam Kaplan ’19, Abigail Rivas ’19, Audrey Powell ’19, Vincenzo DiNatale ’19, Erica Chang ’19, Blake Migden ’19, Anya Wareck ’19, Anna Ely ’19, Rachel Proudman ’19, Gabrielle Henry ’18, Eloise Morgan ’20, Calvin Carmichael ’18, Elizabeth Diffley ’19, Shamari Harrington ’18, Donessa Colley ’18, Elizabeth Mitchell ’19, Kamsi Iloeje ’19, Elizabeth Wilson ’18, Jaiden Cruz ’18, Jeremy Lucien ’18, Mariam Abugri ’18, Adrien Canery ’18, Adolphus Lacey ’18, Tatiana Louis ’19, Kobe Tray ’19, Jalah Scott ’20, Sandra Leon ’19, Jeraldyne Norman ’17, Larisa Owusu ’17, Grace Stapelberg ’20, Grace Zhang ’20, Yasmin Abdella ’18, Madison Epstein-O’Halloran ’18, Antigone Ntagkounakis ’17, Blair Cox ’17, Oluwatomisin Oyinloye ’17, Alexis Walker ’17, Devin Lindemann, Jack Fuchs ’18, Tristan Jamidar ’18, Eniitan Tejuoso ’17, Stephen Ankoue ’17, Sophia Norton, Darby Saskas ’17, Chris Birch ’17, Baji Tumendemberel ’18, Ty Stinson ’17, Victoria King ’14, Shardonay Pagett ’14, Simone Wolynski ’16, David Park ’17, Mehjabeen Mohammed ’16, Noor Shalabi ’20, Jessie Goodwin ’20, Caitlin Lawrence ’17, Hakeem Angulu ‘16, Sophie Ray ’20, Aitran Doan ’13, Shane Potts ’13, Alyssa Zhou ’17, Chiazam Nzeako ’17, Jonathan Joei ’18, Ifeoma Ozoma ’11, Adanma Raymond ’12, Lila Kirchhoff ’18, Annie Wang ’12, Ericka Robertson ’12, Stuart Arthur ’17, Brian Sarfo ’13, Diarra Dieng ’19, Graham Arthur ’14, Tatiana Donaldson ’13, Amanda Chea ’13, Danielle Myers ’18, Catherine Angel ’16, Laissa Duclos ’16, Harley Kirchhoff ’16, Jasmine Pena ’12, Alessandra Newton ’12, Jessica Reyna ’12, Christina Garraway ’15, Sean Banda ’15, Alexa Markey ’14, Taylor Lemmons ’13, Jesalyn Ortiz ’12, Kali Lawrence ’20, Esther Clayton ’16, Parth Mody ’19, Monica Collazo ’15, Emerson Jacobson ’19, Jason Weng ’17, Brennan Connell ’20, Abigail Chang ’19, Fraynette Familia ’16, Miranda Pepin ’14, Michelle Lopez ’16, Gabrielle Brooks ’16, Noah Trudeau ’20, Esul Burton ’16, Olympia Serban ’16, Juliana Ruggieri ’18, Josefina Ruggieri ’17, Julia Ekholm ’20, Tash Hobson ’20, Ashley Kim ’14, Shade Mazer ’19, Kate Spencer ’20, Meade Avery ’16, Emma Blair ’16, Lucy Carpenter ’20, Cam Polemeni-Hegarty ’20, Jinny Yoon ’16, Alex Denhart ’20, Isabelle So ’20, Amir Idris ’17, Ben Dreier ’18, Nicola Sommers ’19, Parker Jones ’20, Kathryn Phillips ’20, Cecilia Curran ’20, Anna Rudinski ’15, Lucia Madero ’15, Julia Cochran ’15, Claire Gussler ’19, Haley Chang ’18, Sarah McAndrew ’20, Clara Haxhi ’20, Lily Ball ’20, Claire Marshall ’17, Serena Sandweiss ’20, Esinam Dunyoh ’20, Cecilia Zhou ’17, Hannah Lemmons ’16, Nathan Chang ’17, Morgan McDougal ’16, Alexandra Brunjes ’16, Alex Jarvis ’17, Josie Battle ’17, North Peters ’19, Caroline Soper ’17 , Nell Zehner ’15, Ryan Dant ’16, Taegan Blackwell ’15, Abigail Blair ’17, Rebecca Lilenbaum ’17, Daphne Harrington ’16, Shamma Ahammad ’15, Alexa Paladino ’16, Serena Sommerfield ’15, Allie Williams ‘15 Yoonjong Lee ’16, Kwabena Ayim-Aboagye ’16, Emma Zehner ’13, Zoe Dobuler ’13, Katherine Lima ’20, Victoria Esquibies ’20, Parker Goldstein ’16, Sydney Jones ’17, Jay Kahle ’16, Alanna Williams ’12, Briana Mastel ’13, Lily James ’17, Jeanne Malle ’19, Nanicha Sethpornpong ’17, Justine Seivright ’12, Kaitlyn Dutchin ’17, Elle Rinaldi ’17, Rebecca Bernstein ’16, Natalie Posner ’19, Kyra Goldstein ’15, Abigail Clarke ’16, Gabriella Bradley ’15, Aissa Bautista ’03, Catherine Ward ’15, Josie Lee ’16, Catherine Song ‘12, Inaya Payne-Wilks ’16, Elena Levin ’17, Victoria Nassief ’13, Max Battle ’15, Zach Mothner ’18, Jamie Williams ’11, Myles Stokowski ’17, Louise Stewart ’12, Shawn C.T. Jones ’04, Rayven Wilson ’15, Sharon Wang ’15, Paige Demet ’15, Donovan Lynch ’18, Andrew Garver ’17, Emily Dryzgula ’15, Zoë Stublarec ’16, Jason Rose ’16, Thomas Styron ‘20, Christopher Gore-Grimes ’20, Kamal Ibrahim ’20, Ahmed Wise ’20, Carter George ’20, Brandon Zhang ’20, Gabriel Valle ’16, Sebastian Barquin Sanchez ’18, Isabelle Steiner ’18
Comments