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Oak Park and River Forest High School is an odd place.
Throughout my youth, I saw firsthand how the town and the school wrangle with issues of race.
However, the experiment hasnt always gone as planned.
I have kids who are older than these kids.
So I was really struck by how incredibly aware and thoughtful and engaged in the world these kids were.
I was nothing like that as a teenager.
I had never been to an OPRF football game.
They sucked back then.
Im very aware, yes.I was struck then by the way the crowd laid out.
It just seems like such an obvious racial thing that made me very curious.
The student who wrote it got in so much trouble.Thats perfect Oak Park!
That headline is making a very, very sharp and acute observation about race.
And who gets in trouble for it?
The kid who made the observation.
It wasnt like,Yeah, what is going on here?Its like youve been insensitive.
Thats one of the problems in Oak Park.
I dont know how far youve gotten in the series.
Seven episodes.All right, youve done good.
Youre gonna keep watching, right?
Shes a star board member, in my view.
Because there is this feeling that the school really works well for white families, for the most part.
Astoundingly well, in fact.Its a great school.
And because it works so well for the white community, real change is hard.
We were so ashamed that we used to think that way, but there it is.
No, thats not doing the right thing.
Thats not gonna change anything.
They dont want you sticking your nose into their business.
I think thats true across the board in American education.
And we had a panel discussion afterward that was organized by the school.
In the room, the episodes play well.
And [the audience] were like,What?
Im hoping this will be more of a wake-up call for the community.
I think theres a lot more called for.
Whatiscalled for?Well, Im not an expert on this.
I cant give you programs and all of that.
That might mean taking a hard look at the tracking system in the school, for example.
They think its gonna slow down the class.Its gonna slow down the class.
Its gonna hurt my kid.
Im all for equity, but not at the expense of my kid.
I think its gonna take some courage.
What did they call them?
And its all about race.
Its all about race.
I mean, its America.
It would be like if suddenly the U.S. swim team at the Olympics was all African-Americans.
People would be like,Wait, whats going on here?
Thats the reactionary thinking across the board in America right now, right?
There wasnt racial taunting.
Its only because the team is good now that the racial taunting has been ratcheted up.
You will not replace us.Or, Were not going down without a fight.
What distinguished the teachers who actually were making progress?
I think thats true of Jess [a teacher featured in the series].
Its true of Paul Noble, too.
Paul Noble is the only teacher in the show who I knew pretty well.
Thats not how to do it.
Im glad you asked that.
Its really important to me that you put this in your article.
You never are, but this wasnt going to be just Steve James coming in and filming the story.
First of all, thats not practical to just be one person.
It also extended to the edit team, extended to the producing team as well.
Not for window-dressing reasons at all.
It was vital to telling the story that we have that team in place.
I think kids have become more conscious that this is gonna live forever.
We dont go to parties and see kids drunk on their ass.
Kids didnt want us in those situations, and frankly, its not what this series is about.
Theres plenty of teen accounts of sex, drugs, and rock and roll, or whatever.
This is not what this series is about.
But kids were also very conscious of that.
They feel more empowered to say,This is fine, that is not fine.
But we live in a time now where being filmed in some fashion is an everyday thing.
Everybodys got a camera.
And the kids interaction with us in those ways is interesting, too they engage the camera.
They get the media landscape and are sophisticated about it.
They see how they might fit into this.
What are the ethics of filming a minor?
Having the parents onboard, obviously, is key.
But also, its important that kids be given a sense of agency in this process.
And thats true with all subjects.
I think the responsibility might be even greater with kids.
Right.We also take very seriously how we portray them ultimately in the series.
We want it to be candid and honest, but we always want it to be empathic.
I dont want people sitting in judgment of people in films.
People are inclined to do that; its human nature.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
