I was one of a handful of black students in a school filled with the children of upper class white liberals, and I was silenced. The school board was more interested in black students existing to share our culture for a white multicultural experience, rather than creating a safe atmosphere for all students to learn. When racial issues arose and I felt compelled to share my knowledge, white students, usually male, shouted me down when my critiques ran too deep. The few white students known to be from a working class family often faced outright rejection as dirty and ignorant from the wealthiest students. They could serve no purpose in maintaining the latter’s white liberal identity, predicated on being not racist and having exposure to multi-ethnic cultures.