Much of the year passed before Ratliff, the newcomer, and Gordon, the veteran, felt comfortable. Since then, both have thrived. Ratliff has a football scholarship to the University of Florida. D.C. Racial conflicts in Whitehall schools have subsided since the early 1990s. The district has worked hard to promote acceptance of differences.
People accept each other.
It makes you think about what you think about. Perhaps no suburban district has felt as much racial tension or done more to defuse it as Gahanna-Jefferson. Six years ago, the district was shocked into action when two black students fired shots into the high-school cafeteria ceiling and floor. They said they were frustrated by the racist treatment dividing whites and blacks into haves and have-nots. That fall, the district hired its first black administrator, Keith Bell, to resolve the tension and give an ear to black students who felt they weren't being heard.