‘I wasn’t comfortable’: Being a student of color in Garfield High's advanced classes

KUOW | By Jessie Nguyen

Published August 22, 2017 at 7:24 PM AKDT

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Garfield High School in Seattle's historically black, and now gentrifying, Central District. Click to see the statement student actors wrote about cultural appropriation in their production of the musical "In the Heights."

Flickr photo / JoeinSouthernCA http://bit.ly/2wlFEJW

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Garfield's drama department produced "In the Heights" which is supposed to have an all-Latinx cast, but there weren't enough Latinx students in the department to fill the roles.

KUOW Photo / Jessie Nguyen

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Students in the production of "In the Heights" wrote an apology in the Playbill, stating "We must fully acknowledge our races." A student said the statement was "heavily censored" by staff.

KUOW Photo / Jessie Nguyen

On the surface, the city of Seattle seems to celebrate diversity, but Seattle's Garfield High School tells a different story.

From the effects of historic housing discrimination, to the current academic tracking program that separates Advanced Placement from "regular" classes, and the drama department's production of a Latinx play with a non-Latinx cast, current and former students talk about how racism manifests at the school.

This is the latest of KUOW's RadioActive Youth Media stories created in our Intro to Journalism Workshop for young people age 16-18. You can stay in touch on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and subscribe to the RadioActive podcast to hear all of our stories.