COUNTYWIDE : Student March Puts Spotlight on Racism

A student-organized rally to raise awareness about racism in Ventura County drew a small but determined crowd of teen-agers, parents and school administrators in Ventura on Saturday.

Waving signs and chanting “The people united will never be defeated” and other anti-racism slogans, about 150 demonstrators marched from Ventura High School to Memorial Park and back for a rally in the auditorium.

“It’s hard to sit back as a young person and have someone” use racial slurs, said Ventura High junior Rene Van in a speech. “We are the ones who have to decide that it’s going to stop. That is why we are here today.”

The rally was organized by Youth Against Racism, a group of about 30 students from around Ventura County. The students were led by Louis Bryant, a Ventura resident whose daughter attends Buena High School.

“We are a county with a lot of people with a lot of different backgrounds,” said Bryant, who said he was active in the civil rights movement in the 1960s. “We need to teach the young people to work toward unity.”

“People don’t want to admit it, but there is a lot of racism in the high schools,” said Dariel Blackledge, a senior at St. Bonaventure High School in Ventura who joined the group when it began in November.

“There is a lot of name calling,” she said. “When people find out that I have good grades, they say, ‘You’re not like other black people.’ It’s time to change that attitude.”

In addition to students, several administrators spoke at the rally, beseeching students to solve differences peacefully. Buena High Principal Jaime Castellanos said, “We need to be more tolerant of each other. We have to get away from knee-jerk reactions.”

Supt. Joseph Spirito also spoke briefly. “I’ve been spending a lot of my time dealing with violence on campus,” he said. “I support every little step toward making a change.”