WILL questions racially separated Madison west high school meetings on race

Benjamin Yount:

“It is head-spinning that a public school in Wisconsin would adopt racial segregation as a tool to confront racism in the twenty-first century. It is an affront to the hard-fought progress our country has made,” Esenberg said. 

The letter explained further: “By associating racial segregation with ’emotional safety and security,’ the school communicated to students and families that racial integration somehow detracts from ’emotional safety and security.’ That is the polar opposite of the message that should be communicated right now,” the letter stated.

“West’s broad classification of all students into ‘white students’ and ‘students of color’ undoubtedly alienated many students who do not fit neatly into these racial categories. If the goal is for students of different races and ethnicities to ‘build empathy and community for each other’ and to “make individual and collective connections,” racial segregation is the worst possible model; only an integrated discussion would allow students to hear and learn from each other,” Esenberg wrote.