Last week, a group of Arlington High School students gathered in Delvonte Arnold’s history class to discuss the events in Charlottesville, Virginia. The discussion began with a screening of a clip from popular cable television show “Vice News,” before the floor was opened up for comments.
Christian Edwards, a junior, shared his opinion during the discussion. “Both sides are right in some regards and both sides are wrong,” he said. Edwards suggested that opposing parties work on coming together “on one accord” to prevent instances like this from happening in the future.
When Arnold asked the class whether the protesters were acting within the boundaries of the law by assembling, junior Rajiah Abdullah shared that many of them were.
“It’s in the Constitution that everybody has the right to protest and everybody has the right to say how they feel,” she said. “I think that it’s the way we carry ourselves when we do it.”
Arnold, along with government teacher Marty Weyland and school librarian Charles Swink, organized the discussion.
“This is their life,” said Arnold. “Whether or not they want to talk about racism, it exists.”
This is Arnold’s first year with the district. The Gary, Indiana, native shared that many more gatherings like this would take place throughout the year.
Swink, who taught history for 15 years before becoming a librarian, shares that it was imperative that he attend class that day to help students understand “this is an important time in history.”
“It’s like a photograph,” he said. “They have to be a part of it and understand it. They just can’t let it fly by.”
