{"id":81722,"date":"2020-05-26T10:31:51","date_gmt":"2020-05-26T18:31:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yesmagazine.org\/?post_type=article&p=81722"},"modified":"2020-05-26T10:31:52","modified_gmt":"2020-05-26T18:31:52","slug":"coronavirus-graduation-class-2020","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.yesmagazine.org\/opinion\/2020\/05\/26\/coronavirus-graduation-class-2020","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t Let COVID-19 Rob Graduates of the Celebrations They Deserve"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
To some, graduation day is just a regular day, walking across a stage dressed in crazy attire only to be handed \u201ca piece of paper\u201d in front of a bunch of people. In my view, those rites of passages are so much more than that, especially for Black and Brown kids. We learned early and often that opportunities to be celebrated or positively acknowledged publicly are often fleeting at best for us in American society\u2014especially when sports or entertainment are not involved. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unfortunately, because of the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the globe, May and June will be filled with prom and commencement cancellations <\/em>instead of ceremonies, including my son\u2019s kindergarten graduation. My heart aches for all class of 2020 graduates\u2014from pre-K to graduate school and beyond, very few could honestly say they have not been affected. I do believe, however, that the sting and sense of loss is that much greater for young students of color, especially those in high school or college.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is why we must do what we can to celebrate the graduates in our lives\u2014especially those of color\u2014in whatever way feels safe and special.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead of being\u00a0celebrated<\/em>, many Black and Brown students often feel\u00a0castigated<\/em>\u00a0in American society.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n I remember my graduation day like it was yesterday. Yes, even two decades later. I woke up that morning to find a half-dozen of my relatives sprawled across the tiny Atlanta apartment that I shared with my mother. They\u2019d crashed wherever they could after a long night driving from New Orleans, to ensure that they would not miss even a millisecond of what would be a monumental moment in my then 17 years of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After a late lunch, I slipped on my oh-so-\u201990s white chiffon suit, fluffed my hair, applied my signature electric-red lipstick and next came the shiny scarlet polyester cap and gown to match. On the way out the door, we briefly posed for pictures. Then came the first round of tears, when my dad surprised me with a gift\u2014my first car. <\/p>\n\n\n\n From there we headed to the Atlanta Civic Center and met more of my family and friends. There I lined up with my fellow classmates, nervous all the while about my speech, which would open the evening ceremony. A video recording would later confirm the tears my family and friends shared, passing around tissues among themselves, as I flawlessly delivered my recitation and later received an award for best all-around language arts student.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Afterwards, I felt every bit a bona fide celebrity strutting the red carpet, as loved ones jockeyed to take photos of me and with me. Every few minutes, a different classmate would emerge from the crowd for an impromptu hug. Nothing will ever fully describe the pride I felt as my grandparents beamed and gushed at the sight of that diploma in my hand. As African Americans born and raised in the Jim Crow South, I knew their feelings were so much bigger than me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n These special moments matter and even more so for youth who often feel profiled, targeted, limited, misunderstood, and disregarded.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n You see, being Black, Brown, and young in America too often means being forced to navigate a bunch of unsolicited and unfair labeling and treatment that many others\u2014because of skin color, economic status, or some other arbitrary circumstance\u2014are often spared. Instead of being celebrated<\/em>, many Black and Brown students often feel castigated<\/em> in American society. For them, racial profiling, stereotypical imagery, economic and educational inequities, and just an overall sense of low expectations are an unfortunate reality of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Research also confirms that minority youth tend to disproportionately live in poverty<\/a> and also often witness and\/or experience more physical violence and are more often suspended and disciplined more harshly in school than Whites for similar behaviors. They also often report experiencing daily microaggressions and facing trauma, including racial trauma, more often and at younger ages. For example, in a study released this year, Black teenagers 13 to 17 reported on average experiencing five racial incidents daily. The consequences of these consistent negative experiences often harm their mental health and, many times educational outcomes too; as African American and Latino<\/a> youth between the ages 16 through 24 also have the highest high school dropout rates nationwide, according to the National Center for Education Statistics<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Graduations provide a time and space to feel seen, validated, loved, appreciated, and yes, celebrated, in some cases for the first time ever.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n