Slavery?

The first day of class I knew something was off. When I walked in and sat at my desk , I watched the door as students trickled in. White kid after white kid, with the occasional latino walked in. The bell rang, everyone sat down, and that's when I realized I was the only black person in the class. M most memorable experiences at Clark was when one day my teacher Ms. Compton approached me and asked "Hey Sherly, for our next chapter we're supposed to teach slavery. I just wanted to make sure you were okay with that, if not, we can just skip this one." I respond  unsure, "sure, I guess it's cool". The next day I waited for her to present our lesson on slavery, but she didn't. A week passed, then a month, and I realized that she decided to skip it anyways. Now I ask myself: How could Clark Academy, a predominately white school with so many resources and opportunities and experiences, have failed me as a student? Although I learned a lot of great things there, I never had a chance to learn about my identity. 

The next year I joined my brother at Benito and I was even more mind blown. Benito had everything. Every extra curricular activity you can think of, an extensive language program, sports teams, small class sizes, school buses that picked you up from home; all things I've never had before. My time at Benito was short lived when my brother and I returned to Chicago to live with my father in the middle of 6th grade.