Thoughts on Garfield and HCC from One Student

As you may recall, there is a book out by a Garfield student who is bi-racial and transmasculine about their experience at Garfield.  The author's name is Azure Savage.  The name of the book is You Failed Us: Students of Color Talk Seattle Schools.

There was an author event at Elliott Bay Books tonight and some interesting, illuminating tweets from it via a reporter at the Seattle Times.  Savage was interviewed by writer/editor Marcus Green.

• Savage says he’s been asked about being in the gifted program, but that the book is about a lot of other topics — racial isolation, representation in education, identity. You know I thought it weird that the entire book could have been about HCC and this confirms that it isn't.
• In sitting down to write about those experiences, he realized he couldn’t do that without delving into schools. “So much of school is a part of my life. There’s no way for me to tell my full true story and leave it out. It wasn’t easy.” 
• Green: Students of color in advanced classes are the closest to whiteness. Can you talk about that? Savage: I noticed that all of us had at least one white parent. My white mom was very aware of the program and talked about it with her friends. 
• When Garfield tried to introduce honors classes for a few years ago, Savage says he heard of parents’ rage and the backlash. “It’s hard for me to not see it as racist,” he said. 
• Savage: Some white teachers get praised enough times by students of color that they then become defensive when anyone points out something they’ve said or done as racist or problematic. 
• “I just think black spaces are magical. I could just wake up in them every day.”  
• Audience question: What advice do you have for staff of color in SPS? Savage: There should be more solidarity between them and students of color. I don’t want to put all the weight on staff of color. 
• (An earlier, but relevant statement from Savage: Teachers should be required to have the knowledge to competently hold discussions about race.)
• Audience question: How can I support my queer teen? Savage: It’s hard to be a trans or queer person, and one thing that’s helped me, is finding other people. It can be very isolating and I’ve gone through that with my race and sexuality. 
• Savage says he’s heard white parents at coffee shops talking about how they don’t want their PTA funding spread out to other schools. “To me, that is so selfish.” 
• How can we support students who are marginalized by our schools? Savage: Listen to the youth. There are so many students yelling their hearts out right now. There are students at Rainier Beach fighting for funding. There is a facade about students having a voice in schools.