A lack of education led a young Anna Yoder astray from today’s reality of racism. For much of her childhood, she was only taught the rundown, simplistic versions of the history. She was unable to grasp the reality and severity of what was going on in society. Over the summer, when cases like George Floyd and Breonna Taylor exposed America’s systemic racism, Yoder felt as if she needed to take action. Her persistent involvement around the school in groups tackling the issue of racism has helped her to gain a new perspective.

The idea of racism and its morality has been incorrectly backed by science and religion in the past. Yoder, however, uses her religion in a different way – to justify against its morality. As a Christian, she believes that everyone was created equally and that’s exactly how they should be treated in today’s world. Hoping to make this a reality, she has taken action, being heavily involved with the Black Student Union. “The plan for the BSU is to tackle questions and problems in our society dealing with racism,” Yoder said. 

Continuing efforts to combat racism in society, Yoder and her middle school friend, Sydney Middleton, recently started a youth group titled “Be The Bridge.” So far, they’ve invited six friends and they plan to hold their first interest meeting in a few weeks. While all this effort on Yoder’s part may sound admirable and promising, the reality of the situation is not what it seems. “It is definitely challenging at some points because when I see people being actively racist it makes me mad,” she said. “A lot of my friends don’t understand the importance of this topic either, which is very challenging for me.” 

As a white female, Yoder hasn’t experienced any sort of extreme racism or discrimination herself. However, she has been a bystander at someone else’s experience. Yoder is a part of the school-wide “WARRZONE” group chat, which commonly discusses the themes for football games. When decision day came on one particular day, however, there was a huge controversy between members of the group chat. A suggestion for an “American” theme turned heads, and Yoder and other members had some things to say. Given recent events such as the aforementioned death of George Floyd, many consider America as a symbol to be tainted. Yoder decided to take a stand against members of the group chat who don’t yet recognize the reality of systemic racism in this country, and used her newfound perspective as a way to inform them.

After high school, she has plans to continue down this exact path of informing others with regards to the realities of this country and this world. We Warriors are so proud to call her one of our own, and we can’t wait to see her do big things out in the real world.