Jordan High School is home to almost 2,300 students, nearly all Hispanic or black, in grades nine through 12. The high school, the first to be built in Watts, dates back to 1925. Protected by a high fence and barred windows, the school sits next door to the Jordan Downs Housing Project. But through a program sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League's World of Difference Institute, students from both schools are learning that they share more similarities than differences. The Jordan students also spend a day at Milken.
Students learn their own reactions to prejudice and stereotyping.
The students talk about times they have been hurt by name-calling. By sharing these experiences in small groups, by talking about times they have said something hurtful or times they didn't intervene, the students learn that they have all experienced pain, prejudice and powerlessness. They also talk about the biases at their own schools, the conflicts between the blacks and Hispanics at Jordan and among the blacks, Russians, Persians and Israelis at Milken. During the social interludes, they discuss music and clothes, television and movies. They complain about homework, overly strict parents and annoying siblings.