Trump tape raises concerns See page 2
Field hockey goes back to back See page 6
Vol. XXXVII No. 1 9502 Providence Road. Charlotte, NC 28277 November 2016
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The Hawk Eye T h e S t ud en t N e w spa p er of C h a r lo t t e L at i n S c h o ol
Growing Up Black in Today’s America Students and teachers share their experiences with racism as the U.S. sees a rise in racial tensions
by Jordan Al-Hassan magine being followed around a store, every movement watched, every step monitored, and every single action judged. Picture not being able to spend time with people you care for because of your skin color or simply because of the false perceptions people have of you. These scenarios are no mere stories, they are realities. Incidents like this are the reallife experiences, not only of people in the public, but of students and teachers at this very school. Middle school Math teacher
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Donay Fullwood, Music teacher Joaquin Fuller, and senior Morgan Montgomery have all faced racial prejudices in their lives. “The first time I really ever experienced racism was when I was younger, and a friend of mine’s father asked my friend,’What are you doing hanging with that monkey?’, at the time I knew what that boy’s father said was wrong, but I can’t say I fully understood the gravity of that comment at the time,” Fuller said. Unfortunately incidents like this were not unique to Fuller. Fullwood also was the victim
of such profanities. Upon moving to Charlotte as a teenager, Fullwood was approached by a white neighbor who said,’We don’t want you N’s in our neighborhood.’ “I didn’t think that his comment would bother me, but I had a hard time sleeping for a few nights after that. Because for the first time in my life someone had called me that word to my face, and I now realized people had that capability of hatred,” Fullwood said. It might be easy to argue that Fuller and Fullwood faced these injustices based upon the ignorances of the past, but Montgom-
ery, a current senior, faced her own prejudices. “People have confused me for other black students on more than one occasion, or said hurtful comments about a black woman’s hair in front of my friends and I without second thought. It’s times like that in general where you feel singled out as a black student, rather than any other normal student,” Montgomery said. It is hard not to feel the recent growing racial tensions. Even here in Charlotte, the city was rocked by the multiple nights of protests after the death of Keith Lamont
Scott at the hands of the police. Fullwood took a deep breath before commenting, knowing the weight of the situation, not only as a teacher, but as a father. “It’s upsetting, disappointing, and honestly very scary. I have a younger son, and the fact that if he does not act in a perfectly executed way his life may be put in jeopardy, and it’s disappointing that we are here in 2016, and those issues are still here,” Fullwood said. All the protests and shootings are putting unexpected pressure continued on Page 3 ...