INSIGHT   

---GDS Middle School Diversity Newsletter--- 

Exploring Cultures​ and ​Lifting Voices 

Art by Edie Carey 

 
Contributors 
Julius Boxer-Cooper, Edie Carey, Luke Flyer, Sophia Flyer, Sadie 
Foer, Gigi Gore, Sophie Klein, Aidan Kohn-Murphy, Mimi 
Mayorkas, Isaac (Ike) Song 
Editors 
Luke Flyer, Sophia Flyer 
Faculty Advisor 
Angelique Errett 
 
Table of Contents 
 
 
Page 2​ - Pros and Cons of Diverse 
Schooling 
By Mimi Mayorkas  
 

Page 3 - ​What is it Like to Be Biracial? 

By Sophia Flyer 
 

Page 4 - ​Tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. 

Facts Assembled by Sadie Foer with Writing by Luke Flyer 
 

Page 5-6 - ​Sexual Harassment Accusations 

By Sadie Foer 
 

Page 7 - ​The Monthly Allegoricoms 

By Julius Boxer-Cooper 
 

Page 8-9 - ​Abortion: The Taboo Topic 

By Edie Carey 
 

Page 10 - ​Google Form Responses on Race 

By Anonymous GDS Middle Schoolers 
 

Page 11-13 - ​Trump’s NFL Boycott 

By Aidan Kohn-Murphy 
 

Page 14-15 - ​The Danger of a Day Off 

By Luke Flyer 

1
 
  thinking, problem-solving, and
Pros and Cons of Diverse  creativity.
Schooling  The social-emotional benefits
By Mimi Mayorkas  are that attending a diverse school
  can help
Diverse schooling is good for
children in many ways but it also has
reduce racial bias and counter
some flaws. Here are some pros for
stereotypes. Students in diverse
having children in a diverse school.
classrooms have more
Some academic and cognitive benefits
self-confidence. Learning in diverse
are that students in diverse schools
settings can enhance students’
have a higher average on tests. This
leadership skills. Also, attending a
may be because if a school has a
diverse school can be a more effective
socio-economically diverse student
academic intervention than receiving
body, lower-class students can be
extra learning outside of school.
given extra resources to level the
School diversity promotes more
playing field. Higher class students’
equitable access to resources. Students
parents may give more money to the
in diverse classrooms prepare
school to spend on financial aid and
students to succeed in a global
other supplies to help students that
economy. Children with learning
need it. Students in diverse schools
disabilities will not have to go and do
have a better chance of enrolling in
special-ed classes and fall behind, but
college. One reason may be because
they will learn how to act with their
children with different backgrounds
fellow peers which may only happen
push each other more, and the
in diverse schools.
exposure to different backgrounds
Some cons are that some
help grow the mind. Diverse schools
students may have a harder time
help children be exposed to many
keeping up with there fellow peers
different backgrounds. Diverse
who had a leg up at birth. Despite
classrooms encourage critical
efforts to create an understanding in
students, there might be

2
misunderstandings and also bullying
may occur. However, the issues that a
diverse school poses to a student body
must be addressed to help expose
 
children to differences. It may not feel
comfortable or safe, but it is the best
way to prepare students for their
further education and hopefully their
careers.
person, just one person that came

What is it like to be  from two different racial

backgrounds. I am proud of being able
Biracial? 
to identify with two different
By Sophia Flyer 
ethnicities. Although I’m very happy
 
with being able to share two races, I
When someone asks, “What are
notice many other people that are not
you?”, one may take it in many
like me.
different ways. This happens a lot,
especially to biracial people. When it
There are times where I feel
comes to race, people like me cannot
that I am a
just give one answer. Instead, we
minority in a
say multiple. It is very important
community
for people to respect one another’s
in terms of
ethnicities and cultural
racial
backgrounds even if it is someone
background.
who has multiple racial
Sometimes in
backgrounds. We must respect those
my
ethnicities as a whole.
synagogue I
To me, being biracial means
notice most
having two identities, and I like
people sitting around me do not look
that. For other biracial people, the
like me. Of course they are like me,
experience is sometimes different.
sharing my religion, but basically the
Some people feel pressured about
only person that I share my
being biracial and they may feel like
background within synagogue is my
they don’t have one, true identity.
brother. Another example is when I
Being biracial, I still feel like I am one
look at the two sides of my family

3
and realize that my brother and I are People that are biracial should
the only ones that share two races. not be disappointed that they don't fit
The way I look at it is that we are the in in a community. Even if they don’t,
connection between both sides. There they should still be proud because
are also times when people are you can’t change your racial
surprised I’m Jewish because I don’t background. There’s nothing that can
have the “Jewish features”. be done but to be proud of who you
are.
Tribute to Martin Luther  in the United States, and he was an

King Jr.  inspiration to many activists who

came after him, fighting for various
Facts Assembled by Sadie 
Foer with Writing by Luke  different groups of people. However,
Flyer  even with the change that was made
because of MLK’s marches and
protests, there is still room for
improvement in this country. MLK did
not end racism. He paved a path for
future generations to end it.

Here of some recent facts regarding

 
Last week the GDS Middle
School, through a day of conversation
and workshops, honored and
remembered Martin Luther King Jr.
and the legacy of strength and unity
he left behind. Dr. King fought to
improve the lives of black Americans
racial bias:
1) Applying for Loans
In 2014, 21% of black people trying to
buy a home were declined a
mortgage compared to 6% of whites.
2) Getting accepted for a job
Whites are 36% more likely than
blacks and 24% more likely that
Latinos to get a callback for a job that
they are equally qualified for. For
example, one would be discriminated

4
against if they have a “black
sounding” name on your resume, or
during an interview.
3) Misrepresented in the
government
13.3% of the US population is African
American, so that should mean that
there are 13 black representatives in
the Senate, right? Wrong. There are
only three and there only have been
ten ever.
17.8% of the US population is Latino,
yet there are only four
representatives in the US Senate.

Sexual Harassment  name a few. The sheer number is

Accusations  enough to make you step back and
By Sadie Foer  shiver as well as wonder how many
  more women have not spoken out
“Why now?”, Roy Moore said
yet. The way Congress and the
while defending himself from sexual
Congressmen accused of sexual
harassment allegations during his
harassment or misconduct handle
campaign for Senator. You are
these situations will greatly affect the
probably asking yourself this same
way that the rest of the country does.
question after reading the news
They will send a message to rest of
lately. Recently, there has been a
the country on the severity of this
chain reaction of accusations and
empowerment. If you are like me,
you are also wondering how you
should feel about this, upset or
hopeful. This is completely
understandable.
One of the many different
areas where sexual harassment and
misconduct occurrences are coming
to the surface is the US Congress.
You may have heard of Al Franken,
John Conyers, and Roy Moore to

5
issue and how to act in accordance
with your values.
There are many reasons to be
upset about these accusations, but that
is all at face value. We all feel at least
somewhat unsettled about what these
women went through, but I would
like to point out the upsides to the
light that has been put the issue of
mistreatment of women. These
accusations will give other women
the courage to speak out and share
their experiences. This empowerment
is important because, I imagine, it can
be hard not to feel guilty after one is
harassed, which makes it emotionally
challenging to speak out. When one
sees other people speaking out they
feel empowered to speak out
themselves sparking a chain reaction
of empowerment. A great example of
that is #metoo which is a way
women can speak out through social
media.
We should also feel hopeful
that in the process, we are educating
the next generation, us, about the
acceptable way to treat women. This
is the biggest reason I am hopeful. It
means that I will have the ability to
live without worrying about how I
will be treated and respected in the
workplace.
I also need to express why
these accusations might be bad for the
future. Big companies might start
hiring more men than they would
normally because they are afraid of
these incidents occurring in the their
companies for more than just moral
reasons, from a PR standpoint. Not
only that, but women are going to be
less likely to be asked to have
conversations outside of work that
are so important. A lot of those
important work conversations happen
during lunch, and a woman will be
less likely to be asked to go out for
lunch by a man because they are
afraid of how it could be interpreted.
I hope that people will be
respectful yet comfortable when
working with women. And I'm here to
tell all girls that it is okay to ask for
that conversation and get a chance
for your voice heard not just in the
workplace, but in life. I hope that men
will learn that women can speak and
will speak. I hope that all of the fellow
girls in my class, the middle school,
and I will not have to face these
problems in the future. But I'm tired of
just hoping.
6
 

The Monthly Allegoricoms (Allegorical Comics) 

By Julius Boxer-Cooper 
 
 
 
 
 

7
  

Abortion: The Taboo Topic 

By Edie Carey 

Abortion is defined as “​the

deliberate termination of a human
pregnancy, most often performed
during the first 28 weeks of
abortion is when a pregnancy is
pregnancy.” This means that an
ended by the choice of the woman

8
who is pregnant. Abortion is very
controversial in America today
mostly because of the argument of
whether or not the fetus can feel pain,
or if the fetus is even alive by the
time of the abortion. Abortions are
provided at hospitals and other health
facilities, like facilities provided by
Planned Parenthood, an organization
that helps women with their health,
especially centering around care of
women while they are pregnant. They
provide free health tests and
abortions for women. Abortions can
happen in two ways. If the fetus is
only a few weeks along, then the
woman can take a pill and that will
end the pregnancy. That pill can be
taken at home. If the pregnancy is far
along, then the baby will be removed
surgically.
One of the groups who are
anti-abortion label themselves as
pro-life. They say that right after
conception, fetuses are humans and
should have rights. They are against
abortion and often protest outside
facilities that provide abortions.
Pro-life groups have often formed
their views based off religion, mainly
Christianity. Mike Pence, the current
vice president of the United States,
spoke at the March For Life in
Washington DC on January 27th, 2017.
He mentioned God several times in
the speech. Some of these groups say
a higher power already has a plan for
every future person, and that at the
time of conception there is a fetus
that is already alive. The pro-life
groups often says ‘baby’ instead of
fetus. Different vocabulary used by
pro-abortion or anti-abortion groups
is important.
A group that is pro-abortion is
called pro-choice. The pro-choice
group believes that women should
have the right to choose whatever
they want to do. Organizations like
Planned Parenthood and the DC
Abortion Fund are pro-choice and
they help women get abortions. The
DC Abortion Fund provides abortions
for women in poverty who can’t
afford an abortion. These
organizations are more liberal and
often have views aligned with
democrats. The pro-choice groups
mainly says ‘fetus’ instead of baby
when talking about an unborn
human.
But even with these two groups
there is a big gray area. Many people
don’t consider themselves pro-life or
9
pro-choice. There is a large group of
people who might not get an abortion
themselves, but they support a
woman’s right to choose. Or maybe
they want abortions to be legal, but
don’t label themselves as pro-choice.
Why would a woman want an
abortion?
A woman might want an abortion for
many reasons. The fetus might have
been conceived out of sexual assault.
The woman might not want a child.
They may have a disease that would
harm the baby, such as cancer. Cancer
can be advanced by the excess
hormones caused by pregnancy. Also,
the fetus wouldn't survive treatments
like chemotherapy. The woman also
might want a child, but they aren’t in
a stable mental, physical, or financial
condition.
What are the laws that would stop
women from having abortions?
Because of a court case in 1973 called
Roe vs. Wade, abortions are legal in
the United States. But anti-abortion
the Effects of Race  A Google Form was sent out to
Responses by Anonymous  the entire Middle School. Three
GDS Middle Schoolers 
groups make laws that shut down
facilities that provide abortions and
deny access to women who want
abortions, especially women in
poverty. In some southern states, there
are strange requirements for facilities
and for women. Sometimes, pro-life
groups will not totally get rid of
abortion clinics, but will get rid of
enough that it is a strain on women
(especially women in poverty) and
they won’t be able to get to an
abortion clinic or pay for one.
I personally think that women
should be able to do what they want
with their body. I don’t think anyone
else should be able to say what they
should do.
questions were asked: 1) How does
race affect your daily life? 2) Have
you experienced racism? And 3) Do
you think you are a racist? There
10
were a variety of answers, and here
are a chosen few that stood out.
How does race affect your daily life?
-“I am benefited by a racist system.”
-“It doesn't. I feel really proud to be
multiracial!”
-”I notice other races and my own
race when I look at people for the
first time”
-”My race isn't the most common race,
so this impacts me because there
aren't as many kids in GDS who share
my identity.”
-”Not really other than constantly
telling people they can't touch my
hair”
-”It makes me more mindful of what I
say to people”
-”It affects my life greatly because
people treat me different depending
on my race”
Have you experienced racism?
-”Rarely. Only when I was younger,
and a man yelling at the side of the
street started telling us to leave this
country; that we didn't belong here.
But I was born here; where else do I
belong?”
-”I've experienced racism in public
places, like restaurants.
-”Yes, many times from when I was
younger to now. Big things happen
once a month maybe, but
microaggressions happen.”
- “Not anything I could remember,
that was not on TV”
Do you think you are a racist?
55.2% said no.
24.1% said somewhat.
Only 1 person replied yes.
-”Everyone has some racism even if it
is subconscious. But I do try hard to
combat it.”
-”Of course not! I respect every race
the same way I would respect my
own.”
Trump’s NFL Boycott 
By Aidan Kohn-Murphy 
 
Since 2010, Donald Trump has
told people to boycott Apple, Macy's,
HBO, Univision, Oreo, Rolling Stone,
Starbucks, Mexico, Italy, Scotland (yes,
11
the countries), Hamilton, Kellogg's,
CNN and many others. There is not
enough space to go on. Perhaps Trump
got bored of watching Fox News and
drinking Coca-Cola. Perhaps he just
wanted verification from his
supporters. For whatever reason, he
then set his boycotting sights on the
NFL.
The story starts on August 26,
2016. Colin Kaepernick (the
quarterback for the San Francisco
49’ers) had not played in the first two
games of the season which took place
the prior weeks. But during those
games, he had been sitting for the
National Anthem, without media
attention. Then on the aforementioned
26th, Kaepernick, again sat for the
National Anthem. A reporter snapped
a picture, and it went viral. Two days
later, Kaepernick told the media he
was sitting to protest police brutality.
He went on to say, "This stand wasn’t
for me. This is because I’m seeing
things happen to people that don’t
have a voice, people that don’t have a
platform to talk and have their voices
heard, and effect change. So I’m in the
position where I can do that and I’m
going to do that for people that can’t."
Just minutes before Kaepernick's first
game after the protest, the Seahawks
cornerback Jeremy Lane sat during
the Anthem, becoming the first
non-teammate of Kaepernick to kneel.
Meanwhile in San Diego,
Kaepernick, whose patriotism had
been questioned by hardcore
conservatives, took a different
approach for the next game. Instead of
sitting, he knelt for the National
Anthem. And this time, he was joined
by teammate Eric Reid. The movement
then crossed over to the National
Women’s Soccer League, where Megan
Rapinoe of the Seattle Reign took a
knee three days later. Kaepernick
re-stated several times throughout
the movement that he was not at all
against the military, or against
America which is what he was being
labeled as.
The NFL regular season started
less than week afterwards, and the
movement persisted, fueled by the
NFL opener (first game). Brandon
Marshall, a Broncos linebacker,
became the first player to kneel
during the regular season. In the
following few days, the movement
became mainstream. Four Dolphins
players took a knee, but after that, the
protest was taken in a different
12
direction. Players began to link arms
during the Anthem, to show that they
that they were united and to reaffirm
Kaepernick's
message without
the risk of being
accused of being
anti-American.
Seahawks and
Chiefs players
linked arms, and
Chiefs cornerback
Marcus Peters
raised a fist, the
universal sign of
black power. Two
Patriots followed suit and raised their
fists on Sunday Night Football. Over
the following weeks, many other
teams joined in. It didn’t matter what
level, high school teams, NFL teams. It
didn’t even matter the sport! Howard
University cheerleaders also knelt for
the Anthem, as did the entire Indiana
Fever, a WNBA team. Celtics, Rockets
and Knicks players linked arms for
the Anthem.
The movement then died down
for a while. It wasn’t until Marshawn
Lynch came out of retirement in
August of 2017 that the fire began to
burn again. And to continue the fire
metaphor, Marshawn Lynch threw
gasoline on the fire. Not only did he
kneel during the Anthem, Lynch also
became vocal about his support of
Colin Kaepernick's movement. In an
appearance on ​Conan​, he said that he
would rather see Kaepernick “​take a
knee than stand up, put his hands up,
and get murdered," referring to police
brutality against minorities.
I should probably add that
Kaepernick opted out of his contract
with the 49'ers (being told that he’d
be cut if he didn’t). Kaepernick, a
former Super Bowl competitor, should
have been signed easily by another
team. But no! Almost a year later,
Kaepernick has not been signed. The
primary reason for his prolonged
unemployment is likely his political
activism.
For a while, players continued
to kneel, without any new media
attention. Then it started again. Trump
started ranting about the NFL and
how players should stand for the
Anthem at a rally in Alabama. There,
Trump said of players who wouldn’t
stand: “​Get that son of a b**** off the
field right now. Out! He's fired. He's
fired!” This is our President, usually
the most respected man in America,
13
using a derogatory term for people
who have a different opinion than he
does. ​Trump followed up his rant with
a Twitter storm, as per usual. He just
kept going on and on about this and
saying “YOU’RE FIRED” too many times
to count. Same old junk he always
says. He then retweeted a tweet
telling people to boycott the NFL.
Roger Goodell (the
Commissioner of the NFL) was the
voice of reason. Goodell wrote in a
statement: "Divisive comments like
these demonstrate an
unfortunate lack of respect for
the NFL, our great game and all
of our players, and a failure to
understand the overwhelming
force for good our clubs and
players represent in our
communities."
Trump’s comments surely must
have divided the NFL, sending them
spiraling, right? But like Hamilton
having the best week any show had
ever had on Broadway after Trump
boycotted them, the NFL was not
divided. They were unified. Dozens of
players knelt, linked arms, some even
stayed inside the tunnel during the
Anthem that Sunday. This was a
message that the NFL was sending to
Trump. We are strong and unified.
In mid-November, Mike Pence
went to a game of his home state
Colts. He tweeted out a picture of him
and his wife in Colts gear. He then left
almost immediately, seeing the Colts
players kneeling. He tweeted that “I
left today's Colts game because [the
President] and I will not dignify any
event that disrespects our soldiers, our
Flag, or our National Anthem.” The
plot thickened when it came out that
the
picture
Pence
had
tweeted
out was
actually
a picture he posted at a 2014 Colts
game, and there was a car waiting to
take him away after the National
Anthem. It became clear that Pence
had went to that game for political
purposes, knowing that he would
leave after the Anthem.
I could write more about what
Trump said, but I honestly don’t want
to. It’s super depressing and sad. You
know my opinion. He’s a bigot and a
racist. He’s a hypocrite who only
14
respects the Constitution when it’s
convenient for him to do so.
The Danger of a Day Off  holiday Rosh Hashana, my family
By Luke Flyer  drives to WJ High School where a
If you were to ask me, “How
many religions are there?” I would
most likely tell you to ask somebody
else because I really have no idea. The
truth is that there are an enormous
amount of religions being practiced
around the world. At GDS, of course
not every single religion is
represented, but it would completely
defy the school’s mission statement
for the entire student body to have
the same beliefs. The only problem
is that while religious diversity is
beautiful in many ways, it is not
logistically beautiful at all.
Unfortunately, all the various
holidays do not fall during the
same day or week. This issue has
stood for a long time, especially at
schools like GDS where equity,
inclusion, and respect are heavily
encouraged.
First, it is important to
understand that in many religions,
there are certain rules that must be
followed on important holidays. More
often than not, these rules involve
going somewhere during the day. For
example, in my religion, on the
large morning service is held.
Although I have never tried, I could
imagine that trying to squeeze school
into that busy day would be
extremely tough. The point is that, for
the most part, important religious
obligations cannot be done at or
during school.
In my opinion, the solution to
this problem is not very concrete. On
one hand, we need to be able to go to
school in order to learn. On the other
hand, how
can we
prevent
certain
students
feeling as
though their
religions are
being
disrespected?
I think that
the first step that must be taken is
making sure that no student is going
to school despite their religious
commitments. To me, that is even
15
worse than going to school sick.
Nobody should feel forced to sacrifice
an important part of their identity. It
needs to be understood that school
should not prevent religion under
any circumstance.
As I was thinking about this
issue, I first considered both of the
extremes. One being that all holidays
are completely disregarded, and the
other being that every religious
holiday be deemed necessary for a
day off. It is not hard to see that both
of these solutions are flawed and
would not be ideal for the student
body for one reason or another. It is
fairly clear that the answer is going
to be produced by some sort of middle
ground between the two extremes.
If anything, my solution would
lean more towards the first extreme
that I mentioned. To have a day off
for every single holiday would be
ridiculous. We would all go to school
once or maybe twice a year. (Okay,
that is a large exaggeration, but
hopefully you understand my point!)
My solution is that no religious
holiday should be given a day off,
however students who celebrate
religious holidays should be given
extra days to complete homework
and study for tests. The current
system at GDS for Rosh Hashanah and
Yom Kippur is that school still runs,
but teachers often hold back on
assigning homework. To me, this is
unfair to people who observe a
religion that is relatively
uncommon. There will not be any
homework stoppages for them! I
think that homework should be
assigned as per usual, only the
students celebrating these holidays
should be given extra time to
complete it.
This same process should be
applied to all religious holidays. Of
course, though, there have to be limits.
Imagine a student complaining to the
principal because they didn’t get a
homework extension for National
Canine Lymphoma Awareness Day
(coincidentally, the same time as
Diwali this year). That would just be
taking it way too far.
I do not know if or when these
subtly unfair rules will be changed.
However, I do know that we can all
start by being more open to religions
that are less represented at GDS.
Anyone who has experienced
religious prejudice and discrimination
knows that it does not feel good. We
16
need to move forward and to gain
understanding of religious diversity.
Let’s encourage our administrators to
take a fresh look at religious holiday
policies and to more clearly define the
goals.

 
 
 
 

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https://labshul.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/religion-praying.jpg 
http://images.performgroup.com/di/library/sporting_news/51/64/split-donald-trump-colin-kaepe
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https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56971031dc5cb48ef9ba17ee/t/58b6728ff7e0abb43a598a21/1488351
889582 
http://az616578.vo.msecnd.net/files/2016/06/25/636024190292310197-1091447113_coexist-shirts-button
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Painting by Gigi Gore and Sophie Klein

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