For five years since the event’s founding in 2006, Palo Alto High School has celebrated “Not in our School Week” as a way of putting our racial, sexual, and ethnic differences aside. A great emphasis has been placed on the mixing of individuals from different backgrounds to form one unified “Paly” culture;  as a poster in the Library says, “Color doesn’t matter.”

Although it is undoubtedly well intentioned, in reality there exists a fundamentally flawed notion with the poster’s statement. Doesn’t race matter? Shouldn’t it matter?

Now more than ever, Paly and Palo Alto alike are experiencing drastic changes to the racial and ethnic composition of our community. The 2010 Census, released on March 8, 2011, has revealed this truth, as our city and schools have experienced an influx of non-white residents.

In the decade since 2000, the relative Caucasian population of Palo Alto has decreased by 6.8 percent, while the Asian population has increased from 17.2 percent to 27.1 percent of Palo Alto’s total population. Simultaneously, the Hispanic population of Palo Alto has increased by 4.6 percent, according to the Palo Alto Online News.

Similarly, Paly has become increasingly diverse. Since 2000, the Asian population of Paly has increased from 13 percent to 23.3 percent. Also, the Latino population of Paly has increased from 4 percent to 8.8 percent.

The changing demographic is not limited to our school, as Gunn High School is now composed of 40 percent Asian students and Hoover elementary is 78 percent Asian. The Paly Voice [[[we]]] firmly believes[[[delete e]]] these extensive changes to the diversity of our school ought to be acknowledged and celebrated.

Events that bring Paly together, while celebrating our differences, are essential to the maintenance of our school’s unparalled open-mindedness. For this reason, we applaud the Associated Student Body for once again, organizing “Not in Our School Week.” Although there have been and always will be antagonistic forces that wish to polarize our community by pulling on the racial and ethnic strings of our differences, if we can embrace these differences, and unite because of them — not in spite of them — Paly and Palo Alto will prove stronger than ever.