Web Essay: Our community’s greater crimes

Several days ago I was the victim of a crime, literally in my own backyard. I was returning with my 1-year-old son from swimming at the YMCA. It was 11:30 a.m. Two teenage black males wearing black hoodies were walking down the alley where I park my car. I honestly thought nothing of it. I even said hello to them as I got out of the car, trying to be the friendly neighbor.

As I turned my back to get my sleeping son out of his car seat, the two young men rushed me from behind, held me down and told me not to struggle. My first reaction was to fight back, as I have broken up my share of fights as a teacher. But thinking about my son, and not knowing if they had a weapon, I surrendered and they ran off with my purse. Luckily, my cell phone was still in my pocket and I was able to quickly call 911. The police were there in a matter of minutes and were even able to catch my assailants. The boys who mugged me were 13 and 15 years old.

Upon reflection of the incident, I’ve come to realize that a much greater crime has been committed in our community, and that these two young men are most likely victims of this crime. The crime is that of institutional racism and classism.

I have a unique perspective. For the past 17 years I’ve been a teacher at East High in the Rochester City School District. Just a few short weeks ago, I was honored as the Educator of the Year for the Rochester Educational Foundation. In the speech that I gave at the REF gala event, I stated that the quality of a student’s education should not depend on what ZIP code he or she lives in, or if he or she won the charter school lottery, but that ALL students deserve a quality education. Unfortunately, from what I see, that’s not the case in Monroe County. A week ago, the Rochester Business Journal came out with its school rankings for the year. Pittsford Central Schools once again ranked number one, while the RCSD was dead last. How can we have two school districts less than 10 miles apart have such different results?

We must ask ourselves how we define community. The borders we use to divide ourselves are simply imaginary lines, but why do we make them so difficult to cross? We are willing to cross these borders to go shopping, dine out, for entertainment, or to attend a sporting event, but they are not to be crossed in terms of education. Instead we point fingers, place blame and continue to focus on “what’s good for my kids.” Our schools are now more segregated and unequal than they were before the landmark Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision.

I concluded my speech at the REF dinner by saying that if we did not educate our youth we would all ultimately pay the price. This week those words rang in my ears as I was being attacked by two boys that should have been in school. The incident has definitely caused me to be more cautious about my surroundings, but more than that, it has reminded that the fight for a just and equitable education for ALL children is now more urgent than ever. Everyone one of us shares in the responsibility to make it a reality.

Laura Delehanty is a teaching and Learning Institute coordinator at East High School.