Cracker
My son Benjamin is a freshman at Albany High School. He came home from school on Friday and said he was seriously thinking of going to school in Berne where his Dad lives. When pressed about why, he replied, “I just don’t like it at AHS. I don’t like all the ghetto kids and I hate being called a cracker!” I was disturbed at his use of the word ghetto and puzzled at the word cracker. What did cracker mean? I couldn't believe Ben was going to leave his friends and sports behind over words.
Ben’s definition of ghetto was, “kids who are ignorant, use slang or incorrect grammar, wear their pants too low, don’t try in school, and they think they are all that and more”. I then asked if only black kids were ghetto and he said “no, white kids too, it was all about their attitude”. Though upon reflection, he added that it was mostly black kids. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary gives the definition of ghetto as “a part of the city in which members of a minority group live especially because of social, legal or economic pressure”. I did not like Ben using the term ghetto to describe people, but I had heard it before from other kids. It struck me as having racial undertones and that was unacceptable to me in any form.
Being called a cracker is a term I had never heard before. Ben hears, “move or get outta my way cracker” every day, several times a day. When he told me he was being called a cracker, I laughed and then inquired which kind; graham, Ritz, or saltine. He quickly let me know how stupid I was being, in a way only 14yo boys could. As he explained being called a cracker was another name for a white person and the people calling him a cracker were black girls. It was used as an insult and he didn’t like it. He tries to ignore it, but it really bothers him. I called my older son, Sam, at SUNY Buffalo and asked him if he had ever been called a cracker while at Albany High School. Sam confirmed what it meant and also said he was called it all the time and he didn’t let it bother him because he felt it was stupid. Ben isn’t so easy going. The more I learned about what was going on, the more bothered I became. If Ben walked down the halls at AHS, saying “get outta my way nigger”, it would be an incident. He would probably get beaten up, suspended from school, it would make the news and punishment at home would soon follow. But kids say to him every day, “outta my way cracker” and he stays quiet and nothing is done. I spoke to the Assistant Principal who informed me that it was unacceptable behavior and if Ben would point out who was doing it, they would handle it. In the meantime he suggested Ben keep his mouth shut. Because so many of the girls at the school use the term, he wouldn’t know where to start. Sam told me the same thing. Apparently it’s a school wide problem. Name calling is wrong, but name calling to a black person is an incident and name calling to a white kid is to be ignored. Something is wrong here. Where’s the equality in that?
Historically, the term cracker was used mostly in the deep south by slaves who referred to their owners as crackers. The slave owners used long bull whips and cracked them as a way of getting their slaves to work harder. Ben and all the other white kids at AHS aren’t to blame for the long, unforgettable history of racism and slavery in this country. Ben wasn’t even born when segregation was a problem and neither were his tormenters. So why is this still going on? I didn’t raise him to be a racist and I find the behavior abhorrent. It seems not all parents raise their kids to believe name calling in all forms is unacceptable. If the Albany School District is serious about improving education in the city and dissipating the notion that there are two separate schools at AHS, this would be one place to start. Because now there is a very distinct division in the school and in order to have a successful environment for learning it needs to be erased. After all they are the future of this country. We owe it to them to move forward, not back.
Ben’s definition of ghetto was, “kids who are ignorant, use slang or incorrect grammar, wear their pants too low, don’t try in school, and they think they are all that and more”. I then asked if only black kids were ghetto and he said “no, white kids too, it was all about their attitude”. Though upon reflection, he added that it was mostly black kids. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary gives the definition of ghetto as “a part of the city in which members of a minority group live especially because of social, legal or economic pressure”. I did not like Ben using the term ghetto to describe people, but I had heard it before from other kids. It struck me as having racial undertones and that was unacceptable to me in any form.
Being called a cracker is a term I had never heard before. Ben hears, “move or get outta my way cracker” every day, several times a day. When he told me he was being called a cracker, I laughed and then inquired which kind; graham, Ritz, or saltine. He quickly let me know how stupid I was being, in a way only 14yo boys could. As he explained being called a cracker was another name for a white person and the people calling him a cracker were black girls. It was used as an insult and he didn’t like it. He tries to ignore it, but it really bothers him. I called my older son, Sam, at SUNY Buffalo and asked him if he had ever been called a cracker while at Albany High School. Sam confirmed what it meant and also said he was called it all the time and he didn’t let it bother him because he felt it was stupid. Ben isn’t so easy going. The more I learned about what was going on, the more bothered I became. If Ben walked down the halls at AHS, saying “get outta my way nigger”, it would be an incident. He would probably get beaten up, suspended from school, it would make the news and punishment at home would soon follow. But kids say to him every day, “outta my way cracker” and he stays quiet and nothing is done. I spoke to the Assistant Principal who informed me that it was unacceptable behavior and if Ben would point out who was doing it, they would handle it. In the meantime he suggested Ben keep his mouth shut. Because so many of the girls at the school use the term, he wouldn’t know where to start. Sam told me the same thing. Apparently it’s a school wide problem. Name calling is wrong, but name calling to a black person is an incident and name calling to a white kid is to be ignored. Something is wrong here. Where’s the equality in that?
Historically, the term cracker was used mostly in the deep south by slaves who referred to their owners as crackers. The slave owners used long bull whips and cracked them as a way of getting their slaves to work harder. Ben and all the other white kids at AHS aren’t to blame for the long, unforgettable history of racism and slavery in this country. Ben wasn’t even born when segregation was a problem and neither were his tormenters. So why is this still going on? I didn’t raise him to be a racist and I find the behavior abhorrent. It seems not all parents raise their kids to believe name calling in all forms is unacceptable. If the Albany School District is serious about improving education in the city and dissipating the notion that there are two separate schools at AHS, this would be one place to start. Because now there is a very distinct division in the school and in order to have a successful environment for learning it needs to be erased. After all they are the future of this country. We owe it to them to move forward, not back.
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