Table of Contents
After an attempted protest in Short Pump last month largely fizzled out, one organized almost entirely by Henrico County high school students marched from Short Pump Park to Short Pump Town Center and back on Saturday, in an effort to bring attention to racial and economic disparity within the school system.
Organized by students under the name Henrico Justice, a group that had previously attended a protest at Matthew Robinson Park on June 27, the event saw more than 200 students, teachers and county residents make the march to the mall and back.
For two of the lead organizers – Taylor White, a rising Henrico High School senior, and Natalie Christensen, who graduated from Godwin High School last month – the level of support they saw at the march and on social media from their fellow students has been encouraging.
“Our generation is kind of one of a kind, we’re unafraid to call people out,” White said. “There is much less of a tolerance to keep doing things the way we do, just because that’s the way things have always been.”
Both White and Christensen have been involved in several protests since they started in the Richmond area in late May, with Christensen participating in June’s Short Pump protest as well.
“We have all of this information constantly at our fingertips, there’s no longer any excuse not to have a certain education and awareness of the issues around you,” Christensen said.
[maxgallery id="47401"]
Many complaints raised by marchers centered not only on racial inequality within Henrico County Public Schools, but geographic issues as well – most notably the divide between the resources given to the East and West ends of Henrico, with ‘The East End matters’ being one of several calls during the march.
While the group and the event was largely organized by local students, several members of the Henrico County NAACP were on hand to offer some friendly advice and water bottles. They were impressed by the students’ passion.
“They reached out to us first, and I was inspired that these kids wanted to have a peaceful demonstration, and we’re here to help them do it safely,” said Terrell Pollard, the political action chair for the Henrico County NAACP. “They’re impressive, these kids have it figured out. If you don’t like something, you have to say something, be it by demonstration or speaking with your officials, and they understand that.”
The organizers also worked with Henrico County Police to schedule the route in advance, according to one of the Henrico officers on scene for the march.
Dozens of officers and patrol cars were on scene or nearby to ease traffic flow and make sure nothing got out of hand – no small thing when the march route included Henrico’s most accident-prone intersection, and a mall entrance where a pedestrian was struck by a vehicle earlier this week.
At the conclusion of the march, students once again repeated their list of demands for Henrico County Public Schools:
• reform the Equity Ambassadors program by a) allowing students to apply for it rather than just including those selected by teachers to serve in the program, and b) holding regular monthly meetings.
• create a PTSO (parent-teacher-student organization) pool and a cap on booster funds, with additional booster funds distributed equitably to the county-wide pool;
• reform the specialty centers, allowing not only more students of color but a more equitable distribution of spots for students from all parts of Henrico County;
• ensure school safety protocols are uniform across the county, include the same number and type of safety procedures at each school;
• institute a county-wide definition of racial discrimination and how to punish and address instances of discrimination within schools;
In addition to the march and list of demands, the protest featured dance performances, spoken word poetry, and calls to protest at the upcoming Henrico School Board meetings about plans to open schools back up in the fall. Whatever comes next though, these students have no plans to take the summer easy just yet.
“We’re hoping to give students of Henrico County a voice and a platform to speak, and have their demands heard by the county and the school board,” White said. “We wanted to create a safe space for their voices to be heard
“Even if you’re maybe not willing to come out and march, don’t be afraid to speak up and let your voices be heard.”
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
