INSIGHT   

---GDS Middle School Diversity Newsletter--- 

Exploring Cultures​ and ​Lifting Voices 
 

Drawing by Gigi Gore and Sophie Klein 

 
Contributors 
Julius Boxer-Cooper, Owen Diesenhaus, Luke Flyer, Sophia 
Flyer, Sadie Foer, Gigi Gore, Sophie Klein, Mimi Mayorkas, Isaac 
(Ike) Song 
Editors 
Luke Flyer, Sophia Flyer 
Faculty Advisor 
Angelique Errett 
  
 
Table of Contents 
 
 
Page 2​ - Transgender Kids and Sports  
By Sadie Foer 

 
Page 3-4​ - White Privilege in America  
By Owen Diesenhaus 

 
Page 5​ - Unique Holiday TRaditions 
By several Middle Schoolers who responded to the Google Form 

 
Pages 6-7​ - Asian American Stereotypes: 
Helpful or Hurtful?  
By Luke Flyer 

 
Page 8​ - The Monthly Allegoricoms (Travel 
Ban + Global Warming) 
By Julius Boxer-Cooper 

 
Pages 9-10​ - What DOes it Mean to Be 
American? 
By Sophia Flyer and Mimi Mayorkas 
 
 
 

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Transgender Kids in Sports 
By Sadie Foer 
 
Mack Beggs, a high school boy in Texas, competed in the girls wrestling
tournament. Why? Because his birth certificate says
to. He is not alone. Many other transgender students
experience the same thing; an inability to play in the
sport of their gender identity. Some states, but not all,
are imposing legislation that prevents trans students
from participating in sports with people of the
gender they identify with.
What should states do from a legislative
perspective? It doesn’t take a genius to realize that it is right for these kids to be
able participate how they identify, but sometimes it’s harder to compose laws to
embody that. There are three paths that come to mind. One prohibits students from
participating how they identify, the second requires the student to take hormones
or have surgery to participate, and the third allows students to participate how
they identify. What are state’s policies like now? Some states say that trans
students have to play by what their biological sex is, like Texas, where Max Beggs
lives. In that way, they can’t be themselves while playing school sports. Other
states say that you need to have taken hormones or have surgery to play how
you identify. The problem with that is that not all trans students have access to
these procedures. Some states, like California, Maryland, Virginia and many other
states, say you can participate how you identify.
My solution would be akin to the one most GDS students would agree with.
We should allow the student to chose how they identify, and that is the gender
sport they should play. It is a proactive, inclusive solution that will benefit
everyone. If we all have a chance to meet people different from us, and learn
different perspectives, our opinions will develop with it. That is what America
needs right now and we need this kind of legislation to support that.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/25/sports/transgender-boys-matches-with-girls-leave-all-unsatisfied.html

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https://www.transathlete.com/k-12
http://www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/transgender-wrestler_2.jpg?w=450

 
White Privilege in America 
By Owen Diesenhaus 
 
Am I a racist too? As a white male, I think about this a lot. White people I
know mostly get defensive when talking about subjects of race. We don’t want to
be labeled as racists, and we want to get rid of the idea that all white people are
racists. However, we have to realize that because of the color of our skin, the
system is rigged in our favor. The color of our skin can make it easier to get jobs,
make more money, and even to stay out of prison. Not realizing this is actually
detrimental to the state of race relations in this country. If ​you brush aside this
notion of unequal advantages, then why would a Member of Congress care when
they have to worry about what people
think of them? How would any change be
made? We white people have to accept that
we are all privileged, but we cannot just
stop there. We have to cultivate change by
lobbying our country’s government to help
increase other races’ opportunities to
succeed. Saying “I’m not racist,” is like a child
asking for an award for not getting in
trouble. By doing nothing, you become part
of the problem.
Racism is discrimination or prejudice against another race, based on the idea
that one’s race is superior. Doing nothing isn’t racist, but it does not help anyone.
You can see a black person as an equal, but that is only half of the work. You also
have to see the obstacles and hardships that come with being black, and you must
try to do something about it. There is a difference between equality and equity.
Equality is getting the same support as everyone else, while equity is getting the
support you need to be successful. People have burdens that are often overlooked.
For example, a person could be the first in their family to go to college and not

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know how to choose a school or what majors are better than others. It’s problems
like these that might seem minute and go unnoticed, but these situations can really
cause a person to struggle. It’s not just big things like poverty and

unsafe neighborhoods that can hold a person back, it can be a collection of little
things that white people take for granted. These little things are where white
people can step in and give support to help minorities get through them, at least
seeing that it is ok if others treat, say, a black student with more support than a
white student because of the leg up the white student has in their day to day life.

Worrying about whether or not you are a racist will not help the state of race
relations in this country. You have to take action to make change. Don’t think
about if you are racist, think about your privilege and how you can use it to even
the playing field for everyone in America.

 
 

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http://s3.amazonaws.com/liberalamerica/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/enhanced-buzz-27562-1389051959-5.jpg
https://az616578.vo.msecnd.net/files/2016/04/04/635953280651769137698082359_white_male_privilege_einglish_officia
l-large.jpg

 
Unique Holiday TRaditions 
 
 
Ben Carter - “​We dress up as Krampus a german monster
who smacks kids with sticks if they are bad and we
participate in a parade.”

Ethan Wolin - "​For Chanukah, my family usually just

celebrates at home with each other and our menorah, saying
a few prayers each of the eight nights and receiving gifts
from our parents and others.”

Aryaman Murdeshwar - ​“For both holidays our whole family meets up. We
all do a road trip to New Jersey. In that way thanksgiving and Diwali are similar as
they both bring families together.”

Mayra Diaz - ​“We cook and eat dinner early -- as in, 1:00 pm, which may
technically fall under the category of lunch. We also stay in our PJ's and watch
movies.”

Shanzeh Haider - ​“We always invite our cousins, uncle, and

aunt to come over from NYC but, sometimes we even go to
visit them! We always make homemade food,
even if it's hard or not! When we are all
sitting at the large dining table, we all say
what we are thankful for and why. We all
enjoy it very much and we have been with
them every single Thanksgiving for over 7 years!”

Liam Zeilinger - ​“​On [T]hanksgiving we [write] down what

we are thankful for on a paper feather and put it into our clay
turkey named Tom.”

Anonymous - ​“My family all goes skiing in Utah for 5 days for thanksgiving. We
have intense board game battles and a feast of food on thanksgiving day. Plus,
skiing is really funny.”

Anonymous - ​“On Christmas my family goes to my grandmas

house and we select our own nutcracker. Every year we put up
every nutcracker that we got and we get to put ours wherever

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we want in the house. It’s so cool to see all the nutcrackers that I have gotten.”
http://unit70.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/IMG_9337.jpg
https://media.cntraveler.com/photos/5429c32a425f183f61bf7315/master/w_775,c_limit/new-york-city-skyline.jpg
http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/32800000/-Christmas-Nutcrackers-christmas-32833830-500-333.jpg
https://artsygal13.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/happy-turkey-day.jpg

Asian American Stereotypes: Helpful or Hurtful? 

By Luke Flyer 
 
Someone looks at you and immediately concludes that you must be smart.
Naturally, this is flattering to you because honestly, who wouldn’t want to be
thought of as inherently smart? However, although Asian-American stereotypes
seem harmless and even positive at a first glance, they really can be damaging to
Asians, especially for Asian kids in a school environment. Here are two short
fictional (but very possible) stories to show you
why Asian-American stereotypes are, in fact,
hurtful.

Story #1 - The kid who fits the stereotype

Audrey, a Korean-American student has
just received her test results back. Audrey is
beaming when she sees her score, even though it
was not unexpected. Audrey had spent so much time studying for the test. Another
girl in her grade, Rachel looks over Audrey’s shoulder and sees the grade that
Audrey received. Rachel says, “Wow, you are really smart. That is much better than
my grade. Oh, I know why. It’s because you’re Asian. Duh.” Audrey replies, “Oh...oh
yeah I guess so...” Audrey puts on a fake smile and walks away from Rachel, no
longer in the same good mood as before. The more Audrey thinks about what
Rachel said, the more she begins to accept that it may be true. ​It must be because
I’m Asian. That’s why I got an A. It makes sense. Did Rachel get a worse score
because she’s not Asian? ​What Audrey is beginning to forget is the real cause of
her great grade on the test. It was because of all the hard work that she did in
preparation. Rachel completely discredited Audrey’s ability and work ethic, and
only gave credit to the fact that Audrey was Asian. Also, Rachel didn’t do as well
not because of the color of her skin but because she probably did not prepare half

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as well as Audrey did. Reading this story, these truths seem obvious. But in the
moment, Audrey and so many other Asians will not give themselves the credit
they deserve. These kids who fit the stereotype will lose confidence and
self-esteem.

Story #2 - The kid who doesn’t fit the stereotype

Noah, a Chinese-American student, also receives his score from the same
exam. He is not surprised to find out that he scored a D on the exam, but he is still
angry with himself. Before the test, Noah also spent hours studying, but none of
the information made any sense. He did not understand most of the material. This
was why he was not surprised to see the D. To make matters even worse, he
overhears two of his classmates, Audrey and Rachel, talking about their scores.
Apparently, Audrey got a super good grade, and Rachel thinks it is because Audrey
is Asian. ​Wait a second... I’m Asian too. I didn’t get an A, but how? All Asians are
smart, so how come I got a D?! It makes no sense! ​Just like Audrey, Noah is now
completely under the false notion that all Asians are smart. Now, Noah will feel
like an outsider because he does not meet the same intellectual standards as his
fellow Asian students in his grade. Because of this, he may never ask a parent or a
teacher for help on his next exam. Noah will not want to admit to anyone that he
is the exception to the stereotype, and for the next exam, he may not even study at
all because he thinks that his Asian genes will earn him a good grade. This
stereotypes is limiting his opportunity to improve, and you can imagine what it
does to his self-esteem. Now, he will keep comparing himself to other Asian kids
who are smarter, instead of lifting himself up for his own hard work and
perseverance. He should only be comparing himself to what he was yesterday, a
week ago, a year ago, and noticing the amount of improvement he has made. Also,
Noah is not being seen as his own person, and instead he is being associated with
billions of other people in the world. These people may look like him, but they
must not define what Noah choses to become.
Asian stereotypes need to be eliminated. In order to do this, we can start
with just our GDS community. These stereotypes cannot continue to spread and
cause more and more Asian kids to have lower self-esteems and lower levels of

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confidence. At a place like GDS, where respect for different cultures and
backgrounds is emphasized, students should know that there is no such thing as a
“positive” stereotype.
 
https://farm9.static.flickr.com/8526/8669682371_f3cb7c98fb_b.jpg

The Monthly Allegoricoms (Allegorical comics) 

Travel Ban (top) and Global Warming (bottom) 
By Julius Boxer-Cooper 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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What Does it Mean to Be American? 
By Sophia Flyer and Mimi Mayorkas 
 
What it means to be American varies amongst different people’s opinions.
Being American means caring about people, societies, and the country and being
proud of all these things. It means that you care about the needs of others and that
you are grateful for what you have. It’s when you feel safe and protected by the
law. People can say whatever they would like, even if others do not agree. They
are still protected by the law. That's their freedom and that's their right in this
country.

I am so lucky to be able to live in America and be safe and free. Not many
people realize how lucky they are to be American; to be safe and protected and to
have certain rights. If you think about it, it’s very nice to have all of these rights.
Most countries don’t have the kinds of rights that American citizens have. We are
lucky to be free and to not have to hide.
We can say anything we want freely.
We don’t have to fight for our freedom.

I am grateful for so many things in the

world and everybody should be. But in
reality, for me, I don’t wake up feeling
grateful for what I have and thinking
about how I can help others that are in
need.. That's not something bad, but
everybody should think about what they're

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grateful for sometimes. It helps you when you are anxious or feeling upset about
something. I don’t think about how lucky I am every day, but while writing this, I
am thinking a lot about my life. I am free, and I am lucky that I am safe and that
there is no war around me.

Some people like me just end up in a family that has enough money to send
me to school and college/paying for my education. Many people around me are
not as
privileged as I am, don’t have a safe home, can’t get good jobs, and can’t go to
school. Being grateful is thinking about how lucky you are to have what you have,
even if you
don’t have much. Privilege is different because it’s just luck, and it depends on
whether or not you are just born into a particular family. Some people in America
are not so privileged and that is why I am grateful to be brought up with the
privileges that I do have. However, less-privileged people living in America will
probably be better off than they would be in another country. And to me, that is
what it means ​To Be American.
 
 
 
 

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http://queenofclean.com/webroot/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/american-flag-images-12.jpg
https://hoppereffect.gds.org/wp-content/themes/wps-theme/_/img/logo.png

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Drawing by Gigi Gore and Sophie Klein

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