Letter to the Editor: Oct. 26

As we hope you noticed, this issue has a theme: race.

The editors have talked about focusing an issue on it for a long time. When people hear Lincoln, they think two things. The first is “spoiled rich kids.” The second is “spoiled white rich kids.”

Though these generalizations are obviously not true for every cardinal, on the whole, they’re not far off. Lincoln has the lowest proportion of economically disadvantaged students out of all Portland Public high schools, and is the second whitest (trailing Wilson by .9 percent).  

What might it be like for minorities to go to school in such a monochrome environment? When they are outnumbered three-to-one, does it matter?

It’s no secret that race is a hot topic in the media. Presidential candidate Donald Trump called Mexicans rapists and children of undocumented immigrants anchor babies. The Confederate flag, a symbol of white supremacy and slavery, was only this past summer taken down from South Carolina’s state capitol. A 14-year-old Muslim student was arrested for bringing a clock to school for fear it was a bomb. Controversy over Columbus Day reigns, as it celebrates a man who enslaved tortured Native Americans (note that Portland celebrates Indigenous People’s Day, as does Portland Public).

The national spotlight has been shining endlessly on minorities of all origins.

It’s not just a national conversation, either. Oregon law did not allow black people to move to the state until 1926. Portland, statistically, is the whitest American city, and, according to the Oklahoma Symposium of Racial Studies, the most racist.

So, in a school that is overwhelmingly white, in a city that is overwhelmingly white, in a state that rejected African-American residents well into the 20th century, in a country where race relations are far from steady, what is it like to be a minority at Lincoln in 2015?

Though a single, definitive answer is impossible, the CT tried to attack the question in this issue. We talked to minority students and asked them about their experiences in Lincoln and Portland. We talked to teachers and administrators of different races.

No two people said the same thing. Though some might come from similar circumstances, the experiences were as diverse as Lincoln is not. Some think that their race shaped their lives tremendously. Others barely even notice any differences.

To put it briefly: Being a minority means nothing. And everything.

Does that answer the question?

The Editors