From March 2009:
Chamblee is one of the most diverse high schools in DeKalb County, with 10.3% of the student population being Asian/Pacific Islander, 7% Hispanic, 54.1% Black, 24.7% White, and 3.6% multiracial.
Yet the façade of diversity dies off when glancing at the racial make-up of the school’s clubs. Despite the diversity of the student body, the clubs at Chamblee High School, although open to anyone, have substantial amounts of segregation within them. This segregation is witnessed in various clubs such as Y-Club and INTERACT, as well as many other clubs.
Each club’s focus or mission is different. Some promote leadership skills while others are heavily involved with numerous community service projects. The majority of the time the clubs do not have any requirements. Although this may hold true, it is obvious that the integration of races in clubs is minute, and many are composed of a majority race.
The reason for this segregation is not blatantly clear, but what is clear is that the segregation is not intentional, as expressed by members of different clubs.
Among the students, the division of races is apparent. Two clubs that come to many of the students’ minds are Y-Club, labeled as the “black club,” and INTERACT, labeled as the “white club.”
“INTERACT is majority white,” said Sanoma Erutere, a former member of Y-Club, now a member of INTERACT. “I enjoy INTERACT because they are more organized, more unified, have more activities, they know their purpose, and they start on time.”
The Chamblee organization Y-Club is an organization dedicated to community service. The Ashford-Dunwoody Young Men’s Christian Association sponsors the club and the club participates in an annual leadership conference. The club has interests conducive to a wide variety of races, but it remains predominantly black and segregated.
“I don’t know what happened,” said the President of Y-Club Kierra Perry. “At registration we had 100 people sign up from different nationalities.”
Perry and other members of Y-Club informed students at registration about what the club
activities entailed. Perry recalls the diverse group they always start with at the beginning of the year that slowly diminishes. “It’s been like that since ninth grade,” said Perry, a senior. “It always ends up just being black people.”
Some students believe the reason behind the dwindling members of Y-Club is due to the unorganized manner and the social aspect of the club.
“Y-Club was disorganized and the meetings did not start on time,” said Erutere. “It [Y-Club] is just a club where people come together and talk. They did not really do a lot last year.”
INTERACT is another club that is labeled as segregated among the student body. It is also a club devoted to participating in the community. In their February 20 meeting, INTERACT discussed their future and past service projects. Approximately 14 black students attended.
“INTERACT is more racially diverse,” said Lauren Paulk, former co-sponsor of Y-club and present co-sponsor of INTERACT
Although this is true, a majority of students at Chamblee fail to agree with this statement.
In many aspects, this club is similar to Y-Club; however, the club is predominately white versus Y-Club’s predominantly black population.
The division of races is not only seen in clubs, but in the hallways and classrooms as well. Although this division exists, it does not always mean that the students at Chamblee do not get along with other races.
“In the Magnet classes, it seems to me that although there may be divisions it is easy for the students to talk to each other,” said American Literature teacher Jimmy Demer.
Many students constantly talk about this self-segregation, also discussing the segregation witnessed in the hallways. In every grade-level hallway, there is the white side, which consists of whites, Asians, and Hispanics. Then, there is the black side of the hallway.
“People tend to associate with people they think are similar to them,” said Paulk.