Roosevelt Alumni For Racial Equity launches independent program aiming to desegregate Seattle Public Schools.
It’s no secret that Roosevelt High School’s racial demographics are predominantly white. Today, Roosevelt has a total minority enrollment of 30%.
Following the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, Seattle Public Schools implemented the Seattle Busing Voluntary Racial Transfer Program to integrate south and north Seattle schools in 1963. In 1970, this program became mandatory.
Joe Hunter and Anthony Allison, class of 1971, went to Roosevelt during the voluntary busing program. In summer 2020, the two started Roosevelt Alumni for Racial Equity following the murder of George Floyd. The nonprofit aims to address racism in Seattle.
In spring 2021, RARE launched the James A. Davis Jr. Memorial Scholarship, an annual scholarship awarded to two deserving Roosevelt students of color.
In early 2022, RARE released the documentary “Roosevelt High School Beyond Black and White.” The documentary interviews alum, staff, and current students about race in SPS from the past through the present.
RARE has more things in store. Last summer, the RARE Connections program pilot was launched. The Connections program involves “bring[ing] together students from north end schools and south end schools,” said Roosevelt senior and RARE member Quincy Purcell.
Tim Hennings, RARE Connections Committee chair, explains that the goal of the Connections program is to “address the very intractable problem of segregation [in Seattle].” RARE plans to continue the program starting Mar. 1, 2023, with Roosevelt and Garfield High School students. It aims for 15-25 students from each school to participate.
The program is currently split into two sections: Connections 101 and Connections 201. Hennings says Connections 101 “is a foundational course of nine or 10 hours, broken up into six sessions.” Connections 201, the follow-up course, is a series of activities around Seattle involving both Roosevelt and Garfield students.
Hennings notes, “If you look at the earliest days of Seattle, … it’s always been a very segregated community. And it’s just as true now as it was when I was in high school 50 years ago. And my colleagues and I … are just frustrated, to put it mildly, the situation hasn’t really improved.”
Purcell attended the Connections program in summer 2022 with Roosevelt senior Kevin Lu. Lu said they “did a couple workshops on racial equity [and] watched a couple of documentaries.” He also mentioned a community aspect to the program including a bike ride from Garfield High School to Uwajimaya and a visit to Theo’s Chocolate Factory.
Despite working with SPS students, RARE is independent of SPS. “The SPS system is too big and bureaucratic to implement anything new in a timely manner,” explains the Connections program overview. “In contrast, RARE is small and nimble. It can make changes overnight and deal with unexpected issues as quickly as they arise.”
Though the program is currently funded by donors, Hennings said, “[RARE] will be applying for grants from various foundations.” Their goal in spring 2023 is to prove its effectiveness to those foundations.
Lu said, “RARE is kind of breaking the stigma of redlining. Oftentimes you see [north Seattle students] all congregating around UW, U-Village, the Ave. … Just all around North Seattle because we feel like there’s some type of shell protecting us.”
Lu continued, “There’s a light rail now to get to South Seattle, but it’s not often that you see people go down there other than for concerts and things like that. Even then, it’s even less often that you see friends made from south Seattle and north Seattle.”
Although the program is still in its infancy, Hennings said students who participated in the summer program “gave very positive feedback to their participation.” With some time and funding, Hennings hopes to expand to more schools in the district.
Purcell hopes to “join an organization like RARE if it still exists 50 years from now, [to] give back to the place I came from.” RARE inspired him to learn more about racial equity and to “be more aware of the systems that we have in place.”
The RARE Connections program has opened applications for spring 2023. More information will posted around the school soon. To learn more or apply, visit the RARE website at https://rhs4racialequity.org/.
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