On the first day of High School I was optimistic. My home was an abusive environment so I hoped school would be a safer space. I already knew what some of my interests were like science and singing. In my first class of the day one of my classmates started harassing me. But this was high school I brushed him off for being an asshole and didn’t dwell on it when class was over. I enjoyed the first day in chorus and in singing.
My Algebra classroom door was at the front of the room near the chalkboard. When I entered most of my classmates who were already I the room looked up from their desks at me. One couldn’t not enter the room without standing in front of the class. The teacher stopped me at the front and said:
“Oh, Hello Alan. . .Black.”
And twenty-five White students simultaneously said “Whoa!” and broke out in laughter.
The teacher had a private transcript with his wife, who’d taught me a year or two before, about how I could not be Alan White because I am Black. This transcript was not for me. But when he saw my name on his attendance list and saw me enter the classroom all he could think about was that transcript so it came leaping out of his mouth. As a result I was bullied in his class for the whole year.