The Martha’s Vineyard Regional High Schoo l Committee made the right decision on Monday, June 7, when they decided to allow Brazilian-American students to wear personalized scarves over their gowns on graduation day. It is important to understand that the students who will be wearing their Brazilian colors are not wearing them to disrespect America. They are proud to be a part of multi-cultural America, and wear their colors with pride. We have come on a long, hard journey and we wear the colors of Brazil to honor our parents, our nation and the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School.

These graduates worked really hard to get through all these years at the regional high school. For all this time, they have listened quietly to everything, and they have never tried to make a change. This year, graduates Andora Aquino and Fillipi Gomes decided that they would give speaking up a try. They asked if they could wear their colors as part of showing respect for this important day in their lives. Fighting for something is not just about asking for something once, listening quietly and giving up when you hear no for an answer. Fighting means making your point and holding your head up high at all times, no matter what happens.

I feel I should say that I was really upset by how some people reacted to this issue. I could not understand why the fact that some students wanted to wear Brazil’s colors on their graduation day was a reason to discriminate against all immigrants. I would like to point out that immigrants are people who have feelings. Without saying any names, I would like to tell all those people who are so against these Brazilian-American kids speaking up for themselves, that everyone is equal. As Madison once said, “This is a nation of immigrants.” Everyone came from somewhere to this country except the Native Americans. Some people love calling immigrants “aliens,” and I ask how are they aliens really? Why discriminate so much against other human beings? Is it so hard to accept people for who they are and not where they came from? We all live in the same world.

People are always talking about making our world a better place to live. They talk about helping our next generation learn better manners, but how are they doing that really? How are we helping the future if all we do is teach how to turn others down? It’s funny how we manage to talk about helping and teaching our kids the right things, but instead we show prejudice, hate, racism and discrimination.

It is an honor for me now to say that at first the students felt that asking to wear their scarves was a waste of time. They felt that they would not be able to achieve their desire, and I believe that at some point Fillipi and Andora did not even think that they were capable of making it happen. They have shown us that fighting for what you believe and having kind people help you through it can give more strength than anyone could have ever imagined.

I would like to thank Alex Parker for all the support he gave us at the meeting of the school committee and all those who stood by the graduates’ side on this issue. I thank the school committee for their majority vote in favor of allowing us to wear our colors. I have only one more thing to ask those who made the hurtful comments at either the Vineyard Gazette or Martha’s Vineyard Times Web site. Celebrate with these students; this is a dream coming true to most of them, the dream of finishing four long years of high school and starting a new life as young adults. Instead of judging these kids, congratulate them for their awesome job.

As Dr. Robert H. Goddard said, “Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant with the weak and the wrong. Sometime in your life you will have been all of these.”

 

Ana Nascimento is a sophomore at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School.