The Courage of Children: Boston and Beyond XXXIII

ISAIAH GREEN
JAMIE CANAVAN, TEACHER
Barnstable Intermediate School, Barnstable, MA
It was November 14, and I was in the locker room getting ready for hockey
practice. Well, I was, until I heard my goalie yell across the room, “Are you
[slur] ready for this?” What he called me and my friend was a very bad,
racially charged insult. I got into this situation because of my race. I am
Wampanoag and Cape Verdean, and I am proud to represent both of these
cultures. Courage to me is standing up for what’s right and taking action.
In this instance, I stood up for myself, my friend, and everyone else who the
goalie insulted.
The problem started two weeks earlier. He started calling me and my friend
slurs related to my race and my friend’s religion. It quickly turned into him
hitting us and stopping us from getting on the ice. Every time it happened,
I was always enraged, but I just looked at the ground, unsure what to do.
Fast forward to the date of this story. It got a lot worse because he started
punching and kicking us. The bullying escalated from verbal to physical. This
continued into December, when he began to yell religious and racial slurs. In
one instance, he pretended to whip me with a belt. He even used a hand gesture
that has been considered extremely hateful since the time of the Holocaust.
While this happened, most of my teammates appeared to not care at all and
would even laugh when he did this.
Finally, around Christmas, while he was yelling to the team about us, my friend
and I had enough. We met in the lobby outside of practice to discuss what we
should do about this. We decided that the very next time that he tried to hurt
one of us, we would address the problem openly.
The day came soon after. He yelled a slur at me related to my Wampanoag
heritage and ran toward me in a threatening manner. My friend intercepted
and stopped him from hurting me. After this instance of standing up for
ourselves, the bully stopped trying to attack. However, we were disappointed
in the reactions of our teammates. We did not have their support and were
told to keep silent.
“THAT IS MY STORY OF
COURAGE, AND I HOPE
IT INSPIRES OTHERS
TO STAND UP TO HATE
AND TO ALLOW PEOPLE
THE OPPORTUNITY
TO CHANGE FOR
THE BETTER.”
My friend and I told our fathers about the bully’s abuse and the lack of
support from our hockey team. Our fathers stood up for us to the coach. They
argued our case for hours, and we drove home quietly and somberly. I was
tired of explaining the story at this point, but I needed to keep explaining my
side. This entire process was exhausting, but overall, it was worth it.
In the following weeks, my coach was extra nice to me. The team was not
happy with the fact that the goalie was going to be kicked off the team.
My act of courage was then pushed further. I decided to fight to keep the goalie,
who had bullied me, on the team. I did this because he deserved forgiveness
after he apologized to us. People should be allowed to grow and learn from
their mistakes. So, I set out to meet the coach to tell him that he should forgive
the goalie for his actions.
Overall, I learned that courage isn’t all about fighting for something; it can be
about going against everybody and then standing up for what’s right. Courage
can also mean being willing to trust that people can change and allowing them
the opportunity to prove it. That is my story of courage, and I hope it inspires
others to stand up to hate and to allow people the opportunity to change for
the better.
THE COURAGE OF CHILDREN: BOSTON AND BEYOND
VOLUME XXXIII
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