The student: Garfield senior says teachers should expect the same from all students

Brown v. Board of Education has special meaning to Garfield High student Maria Harris, who wrote her senior thesis on the landmark case.

Her great-grandfather, John Caughlan, was a civil-rights attorney who defended the Black Panthers in Seattle. The daughter of a black father and white mother, she believes she has insights on how blacks and whites think and says she feels sorry for kids whose schools are not diverse.

"There's always going to be people who don't understand how amazing integration is. I just feel like they're missing out on so many opportunities, meeting so many people, learning so many things," Harris said.

Overcoming fears and negative stereotypes transmitted consciously or unconsciously by parents or grandparents will require the next generation to be more committed to equality, she said.

"It's going to take a drive and determination from so many people ... who want to be able to sit in a classroom that's diverse and let everyone learn," Harris said. People need to avoid thinking that others "don't have the same interests and goals in life as I do because you come from a different background than me."

To help raise the achievement of black students, Harris said she would give black students more responsibility and not let them slack off in their classwork.

"They feel teachers expect less of them so they do the minimum," she said. "They need to have the same amount of responsibility as everyone else."

And black youths should stop equating being well-educated with "acting white," she said.

"There's a lot of very, very intelligent black males I know who don't think that it's cool to be intelligent. It's more cool to, you know, get by and get your scholarships based on athletics over academics."

She plans to attend Bellevue Community College and study arts management. She hopes to eventually land a job at a major record label.