Gifts
It’s been months since I graduated from Hunter College High School but Justin’s graduation speech came right back to me, this time on the front page of the NY Times. Reading all the comments from NY Times readers makes me sad because they’re reacting to the article and not what Justin is really trying to say.
A lot of the comments address the idea of “affirmative action” and adjusting admissions for “diversity.” Justin isn’t saying that we should eliminate the test, dumb down the admissions process, and accept mediocrity for Hunter standards. He is pointing out that the test that determines six or thirteen years of a child’s life is flawed and he is correct in doing so. The speech should incite commentary not just on Hunter but on our education system as a whole. Why is it that 25% of students who are eligible to take Hunter’s test are Hispanic/Black but less than 10% of our graduating class is a non-Asian minority? Our education system puts academic achievements on pedestals but leaves out an entire population from ever getting close. Yes, a lot of it has to do with parents and cultural emphasis on education but what do you do about that? We can change that but first we can make concrete change in the system to nurture kids from the start. If the family is failing, our education system should be picking up the slack. Only, it really isn’t.
Some of the other comments address the idea that his speech was inappropriate and reflects not what the students believe but instead the faculty’s agenda. I partly agree because judging from the reactions of a lot of my peers, I was one of few who really appreciated the speech. Over a friend’s dinner, shortly after graduation, I had a lengthy discussion with someone who vehemently opposed Justin’s speech. Her reasoning was something along the lines of: “Why should I feel like I have to give back to society?” Now that does not reflect everyone but it certainly reflects some misunderstanding. Hunter, as an institution, churns out Ivy Leaguers and math geniuses but we really lack when it comes to developing students who are not elitist robots. (Of course, this is not everyone. I truly believe our grade will succeed in all walks of life, I just don’t know necessarily if they will give back.)
I found Irene’s comment especially interesting. “Some of my friends felt the reference to their neighborhoods was insulting,” she said. “They felt like their admission was an individual achievement, not because of some racial community they belong to.” She is talking about Justin’s reference to Flushing/Bayside and consequently, most of the 47% of Hunter that is Asian or Asian-American. While this is an argument that I don’t think any amount of speeches can fully address, I think it’s important to keep in mind that while emphasis on education is dominant in a lot of immigrant Asian families, this emphasis in education is really not something that should be upheld as an “Asian” value. That would be racist for one thing but it is also backwards and keeps our society from progressing. Families, regardless of race or class, should emphasize education. America should emphasize education. It may seem like Justin’s choice of neighborhoods is insulting but it actually just reflects the neighborhoods with the best schools. Why should Washington Heights, Bed Stuy, and East New York have schools with 40 kids in a class, buildings with three different schools, no sex education, and teachers who do not care teaching curriculums that do not prepare? That is the type of reaction that Justin’s comment should bring up, is it not?
While I cannot explain why people didn’t like it, I can explain why I liked it. I liked the speech because Hunter students are taught for six years that they are “gifted”, “intelligent”, and all the words that surround a culture of elitism. Not only is this mentality silly to have when entering the real world outside the Hunter bubble, it is a complete farce. Our student body may excel at academics and apply to high-ranking universities but none of that makes us any more socially, morally, ethically conscious. How appalling is it to read on Facebook a whole wall of racist comments between Hunter and Stuyvesant lacrosse teams? What does that say about a “liberal” school like ours? Are we liberal or are we just a bunch of asses who think everything we have now is something we truly deserve because we are more intelligent than others? Am I more intelligent than you because I passed a test in 6th grade and got six years of excellent education? Or am I lucky I had those six years to help me grow into the intelligent person I am today? I do not hold myself up as being naturally intelligent because I know I am not. No one is until they are given the attention and resources that I and my other 183 lucky classmates were given. The important thing is to recognize that and I don’t think a lot of my classmates did.
Most of the backlash towards Justin’s speech from my classmates was the idea of being “guilty.” I must say this feeling is very much something Justin feels and I think I understand why he feels this way because he and I went down similar paths. We both grew up in the Ridgewood/Glendale area and went to the local zoned elementary school. The neighborhood was predominately Hispanic (I am first generation Chinese-American and Justin is Puerto Rican/Panamanian) and poor/middle class. We went to the elementary school until 4th grade when our teachers told our parents that we should apply for a school with a gifted program in Maspeth (a socioeconomically better neighborhood north of Ridgewood). We were in the same class until 6th grade when we both got into Hunter. From 4th through 6th grade, our class was the only class in the grade of “gifted children.” It was quite obvious, even from our age, that we were receiving a supremely better education than the other kids in that school. Biography aside, Justin and I both feel “guilty” because we understand exactly where we could be if we never left Ridgewood, never had the luck of being the only two kids to leave for a “gifted program”, and if we never took the test for Hunter. Yes, we both worked to get into Hunter, yes, we both have parents who understand what education means for success, and yes, we should “deserve” all those congratulations we get on graduation day… but no amount of self-pride comes before the fact that I am extremely grateful for everything I’ve been given. I am going to my dream school next year and I have some sense of a path in my life but nothing changes the fact that I want to give back. I want to give back to everything that made me who I am - my family, this city, and even Hunter.
Justin gave back to Hunter already. He gave back by leaving Hunter not with a false sense of security but with a sense of gratuity. He gave back by having the audacity to stand there before our family and friends and reveal the side of Hunter that no amount of college admission percentages or “Top High School” newspaper articles can ever show the world. I know he will do great things in college and beyond but I’m glad to see someone who shares a sense of duty to his community. Thanks again Justin. Wish you chose Brown so I could say I knew you for 18 years of my life.
-Jenny L.
To read Justin’s full speech: click here
