By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
CASSOPOLIS -- Ross Beatty Junior-Senior High School celebrated its multiculturism Thursday afternoon with a panel as diverse as its student body.
Dowagiac City Attorney Mark Westrate, a 1968 Cassopolis graduate, practices law with 1967 Cassopolis graduate Roosevelt Thomas.
Westrate said racism stems from "fear and envy. When black people obtained freedom, I think white people, by and large, were fearful. Their attitude was such that they did not understand that people are people are people. Economics has clearly been an aspect of it. The haves versus the have-nots: 'We have ours and we don't want you to take it away from us.' There are a lot of factors. I could talk for hours on where racism comes from.
Aretha Glover, a 1988 RBHS graduate, practices corporate law in Detroit. She is "about to be one of the only and youngest minority women to be over the Wolverine Bar Association, the largest minority bar association in the United States."
Glover recalled her leap to the University of Michigan, where not only was the campus cavernous compared to Cassopolis, but her roommate "had never, ever seen a black person. Believe me, I was as shocked as you are," she said as a buzz rippled across the gymnasium.
Glover didn't find the going any easier at her next level because "I have to be honest with you, the banking industry is old Jewish white men. I am the only African American who attends those meetings. I am the only female, unless they're related to them. Initially, I was not well received, whether it's because of my race, my gender or my age.
Texas "Carolyn" Bufkin grew up in Cassopolis-Vandalia while her father pastored Chain Lake Baptist Church in Calvin Township, but she attended high school in Centreville.
Bufkin was principal of Ross Beatty High School for four years, until 1987. Her children are Cassopolis graduates. Today she runs a small private school in Milwaukee, Wis. She told the students to be proud of where they come from.
When she got to high school, Vandalia didn't have one, so Bufkin's family paid tuition for her to attend Centreville.
That belief served Bufkin well when she became assistant principal to Kenneth Wilson and there "was a discussion, 'Is Cassopolis ready for two black school administrators at once? A white woman on the school board said, 'Look, it's just time that we don't say whether you're black or white or a woman, but can you do the job?' That's what we need to look at when we look at people: Can they do the job? Are they righteous? Are they good-hearted? That's what we need to be looking at," she said to loud applause.
New Cassopolis Public Schools Superintendent Bill Trujillo said, "A negative experience for me is whenever I see someone being belittled for who they are. On a personal level, I'm convinced there was a time I didn't get a job because I was Hispanic. On the positive side, I see a growth of acceptance throughout the country. I see you sitting here and you're truly blended. It's a great community and I can't begin to tell you how excited I am to be here. It warms my heart, and I can't wait to get to know each and every one of you. I hope you think of how it is to come into a totally new situation -- even for an adult -- and feel somewhat insecure not knowing how you're perceived. Help me by coming up to me, introducing yourself and getting to know me. That's part of extending yourselves as human beings. Don't be biased against me just because I'm a superintendent," Trujillo said.
Carmen Szumski coordinates the Cass County Family Court's Building Restorative Communities since retiring as a social worker from the Family Independence Agency.
She noted that Trujillo pronounces the "j" and "l's" in his name, where "the majority of the Hispanic population would say it with an "h" and "y" sound. "That's an example of diversity right there," Szumski said.
To promote diversity, Szumski said, "Find something you have in common with the other person. We had one student sing (senior Chaquitta Danzy's rendition of the black national anthem). We had a couple of other students dancing (while sophomore DeRron Thomas rapped a song he wrote for the occasion). That seemed to bring the crowd together. Music, singing and dancing are things we all have in common."
Lloyd Hamilton, a Jamaican who is Lewis Cass Intermediate School District's director for the family and children services program, moderated the panel discussion and posed the five questions students generated.
Amber Hassinger introduced her father, Robin, a Cassopolis graduate who is a member of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians. In fact, he came dressed in the symbol-studded regalia of a dancer and spoke in Woodlands dialect.
His ceremonial outfit with jingles, bear claws and beadwork has four colors "for the four directions and the four colors of people who live on Mother Earth -- yellow for the eastern direction where the sun rises, red for the southern direction where the warmth comes from, black for the west where the sun sets every night and white for the north where snow blankets the earth and cleanses it," Hassinger said.
He ended up in a circle break dancing with students.
Candi Wesaw, a Pokagon Band member from Hartford who now lives in Grand Rapids, hosted students for a "Jeopardy"-style game show introducing Native American history and culture.
Laotian students talked about Buddhism, played indigenous musical instruments and demonstrated weave ball.
Bob Dzere, of Zimbabwe and the Institute for International Cooperation and Development (IICD) on Dailey Road near Dowagiac, shared an African lullabye and showed how South African miners dance, rhythmically slapping their rubber boots.