INDIANAPOLIS – Teachers at Arlington High School opened the floor for discussion on hate and tolerance this week in light of violent events that took place in Charlottesville.
World history teacher Delvonte Arnold challenged his students to think about civil rights by showing them clips of the march, educating them about the First Amendment, asking them if those in Charlottesville had the right to assemble and how they felt about the events that took place.
Junior Christian Edwards said he thinks knowledge will make the county a better place to live.
"I feel like they're just a bunch of irrational people, more like children, who don't understand the causes of their hatred,” said Edwards. “I realize had they talked to each other, and make compromises, they'd realize they're very similar to one another, and they could be closer allies than enemies."
Arnold, who is in his first year of teaching and chose to teach at Arlington due to the large population of black students, said the discussion was “completely necessary.”
"When they go off to college, when they are experiencing the world, for them to understand their state in America, why some people may have less expectations for them than they have for themselves, understand why some people may view them differently than they view themselves,” said Arnold.
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