Village News ~ Summer 2003

Teen Stands Up by Facing Down Stereotypes
By Martha Lepore

" Stereotypes can be good," Kelvina told her classmates. "Like when someone tells you, ‘You’re the kind who’s good at math.’"

" And there are bad stereotypes, like when someone finds out you’re from Compton and thinks, ‘You’ll never amount to anything,’" she says.

A black neighborhood of Los Angeles, Compton has many lower-income residents and a history of crime and racial tensions. Kelvina comes from Compton.

However, she is facing down the Compton stereotype. She has already convinced her classmates, teachers and the principal of Teen Quest High School at the Toussaint Teen Center (TTC) that she will amount to something.

During a presentation of her senior project, "Stereotypes and How They Affect My Life," the 18-year-old challenged her listeners to think of times when they had been stereotyped, how they felt and what they did about it.

" Because of my skin, I don’t have many picks (choices)," she said. "I know stereotypes are going to be there all my life. I see my future in a very positive way, though – I just have to work hard. I’ve learned that life is how you live it, now how you look at it."

Moved by her presentation, Principal Tracy Thompson asked Kelvina how she dealt with her stereotype of white men when she saw her Teen Quest teacher Jeff.
" With him I overcame my stereotype of whites very gradually. Now I look at Jeff," she pauses for a moment, "I look at him like he has no color, he’s just clear. I see him as someone who cares about kids."

Going further, Thompson said, "I look at this presentation as an opportunity for the people in this room to grow. My next question to you is, how will you deal with
institutional racism?"

Kelvina thought a bit. "It exists," she said. "I’ll just have to accept it."
Thompson noted, "As an educated black man, black people say to me, ‘You sound white, you sold out,’ and white people tell me, ‘It’s hard to believe you’re the principal.’

" You’ve just reminded me that you can’t bow down to how another person defines you. You’ve helped my motivation to go forward. So I challenge you to help me and Jeff teach more adults and educators about stereotypes. Will you do that?" he asked.