East Grand Rapids is consistently referred to as “the bubble.” The context of the phrase determines whether or not it is being affectionately used. Of course, East is full of supportive community members who donate to the school, allowing students to succeed after graduation and continue the Tradition of Excellence far into their future. A small town, it is where people are connected through seeing each other late at night at D&W as well as at their children’s sporting events and concerts. It is a protected section of Grand Rapids where people believe their kids can thrive safely.

However, the impenetrable wall of East is also commonly referred to as an area of ignorance where the students are brought up in community that us neither racially nor economically diverse.

We should not be proud of the de facto division that exists which creates separated factions that can lead to naivety.

Alongside the current administration in the White House, we need to learn to accept and embrace diversity. We need to look for it in different ways: interests, religion and heritage. President Trump and his colleagues are not reflecting this collectively empathetic attitude. Using tear gas to block men, women and children from entering through the Mexican border, the country that was forever known as ‘the Melting Pot’ is against traditional American values. The ‘muslim ban’ he suggested early in his presidential years no way reflects the traditional views of his Catholic supporters who forever preached the ideas of helping your neighbors. Trump’s cabinet, a sea of white men, is a symbol of the racial inequality present in our country.

As a close-knit school, community, and town, we have the opportunity to get to know each other and embrace our diversity. The name, “the bubble” has shifted to embody the negative sides of East Grand Rapids; therefore, we encourage defying the division and puncturing our bubble of ignorance.