Written By

Alyna Lam

The topic of race or ethnicity at West is one of those touchy subjects that people are hesitant to talk about, however, it’s an important matter to address especially with new students that are starting to assimilate.  My experience as a Vietnamese-American has been nothing but positive but there are no single stories at this school. Representation is needed for our diverse community (see chart) so people can feel comfortable as themselves in their school environment. 

Let’s talk about representation. 

Joanna Aguilar, vice president for West Campus’ Latino Club says, “I am Hispanic and I firmly believe that the representation of our community at West Campus largely exists because of the students. For example, the Latino Club and the Folklórico Club are excellent examples of Hispanic clubs that are working to create a sense of community for us at West.” 

Ohviya Ratheep (Sri Lankan, but considers herself South Asian as well) states, “I started my own club, SASA, to help fight the underrepresentation but it’s only a small step forward considering there’s not a lot of effort to represent South Asians.” 

Experiences at West are all different; we tend to assume, even as we walk down the hallway, what people have gone through. The community we create matters and so do the students that create it; we are establishing an environment for the classes ahead. 

However, this school isn’t just sunshine and rainbows. Discrimination happens, in small scale forms or even in intentional acts of racism. Owen Naqica, President of Pasifika Association shares, “People often compare me to Maui from Moana, one because that’s the only Pacific Islander male in media they know, and arguably the only Pacific Islander in media anyways.” He goes on to say, “We as a society need to stop asking stupid questions.” 

Ohivya vocalizes her frustration of small microaggressions made to her, “I know many people consider me that “one Indian girl” and I find it really annoying since I am Sri Lankan and am not Indian, yet even after I clarify that, people just ignore this and continue to call me Indian. It’s not the same.” People need to realize that these mistakes that people brush off yet continue to make affects the people that receive your ignorance. Do better. 

Underrepresentation at our high school is common and many people feel the same way about their culture being neglected in the spot-light of cultural representation here. Emily Nguyen of Vietnamese Culture Club states, “I don’t think any ethnicity is really “unrepresented” in our school as we have a variety of culture clubs and diverse groups of students but if I had to say an ethnic culture club that I would like to see is, a Pacific Islander club.” This highlights that our school does have a lot of culture and the students have made an effort to depict that through clubs or associations, but there is always work to do.

Owen Naqica adds to the subject, “There are many ethnicities and subcultures underrepresented at West. If we spotlight and focus on those cultures, only then can we say we are a community that acknowledges people from diverse backgrounds.” Ohviya believes, “I really appreciate all the student efforts to make the campus more inclusive. I think ways we can represent these groups is to just be more respectful on topics regarding cultures and race.” 

Students here have made an effort to acknowledge the many ethnicities that attend West Campus High School, which is evident in the small steps such as cultural clubs, events to share backgrounds (dances, food), or everyday demeanor showing respect/boundaries to one another. It is important to note the discrimination that people have faced and acknowledge that we can change that for the class of 28, 29, 30, etc. We are the change that will bring these subcultures and people of different backgrounds to the forefront in order to make being an ethnic minority at West a pleasurable experience.