The Student News Site of Black River Falls High School

BRFHS Paw Print

The Student News Site of Black River Falls High School

BRFHS Paw Print

The Student News Site of Black River Falls High School

BRFHS Paw Print

Diversity Day Helps Us Understand Many Different Traditions

Diversity+Day+Helps+Us+Understand+Many+Different+Traditions

Diversity is something that some people have a hard thing getting a hold of, but in certain ways it helps us understand the traditions of others.

As a school that mostly consists of Caucasian and Native American students, the idea of other ethnic groups shouldn’t be a problem, should it? We contain one of the highest percentages for ratios of Native American to Caucasian students in public schools in Wisconsin, but do we truly treat those who may be different from us with the respect that they deserve?

“I feel like people sometimes treat me different just because of my ethnicity,” said sophomore Naomi Falcon.

Thanks to the student and the Waksik Wacek organization, this year we were able to host a diversity week. During this week, we had many different activities from different cultures, and we also had a taste of some their traditional food. There was a hope that this week would set aside the differences between some of the cultures, and let us all realize that despite your ethnicity, we should all be treated with the respect that we deserve.

“I feel like people aren’t going to remember that week for diversity, but they’ll remember it for the food,” said sophomore Mackenzie Bedell.

Bedell’s concern is reflected in data, out of a total of 87 responses, 28 said that they believed that they were treated differently just because of their ethnic background.  still means that there are students who feel that they are treated differently. Despite that fact, there were also people who said that it sometimes depended on the people that they were with, or that they were treated differently because of other things that were somewhat similar. That being, another 6% from that same survey, stated that they were treated differently, but that they were unsure if it was from their ethnicity, their gender, or just because of who they were friends with.

Besides the difference in ethnic backgrounds, some people also believe that they are treated differently because of some of their traditions. Some might find this to not be bothersome, but there are a few students who very much dislike this aspect. Within this school, we obviously have Caucasian and Native American students, but we also have so much more than that. We have some students that are part Greek, Italian, French, Czech Bohemian, Czechoslovakian, and Hispanic as well. There are many students who can claim that they are German, Norwegian, or even Polish too.

“I’m Hocak from Wisconsin, Tohono O’odham from Arizona, and Cherokee from Oklahoma,” said Falcon.

Within our school, we have so many different traditions that some may follow, and that causes some friction.

“We all know that you’ll have those people who will just say, ‘it’s because I’m Black’ or whatever, but I don’t think that they actually realize that it may affect people in different ways,” said sophomore Erin Pfaff.

In the end, activities like diversity week help ease some of that friction.
“I feel like our school is okay when it comes to differences. There aren’t many problems aside from the occasional racist comment but  It could be better,” said freshman Paige Blackdeer.

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The Student News Site of Black River Falls High School
Diversity Day Helps Us Understand Many Different Traditions