The Supreme Court’s examination of the legality of affirmative action serves the same purpose as Toni Morrison passionately declares of racism: it is “a distraction.” Rather than focusing on dismantling the system of racism, we are fiddling with the band-aid we’ve placed over the bullet hole.

As we walked through the lobby, my friend passed her hand through a black plastic slot in a strange-looking machine, and the student worker at the front desk nodded her through while I waited for my OneCard to be swiped.

From ASAP Rocky being featured on Fenty Beauty’s skincare line to Machine Gun Kelly’s all-inclusive nail polish brand, in recent years there has been a surge in the number of men endorsing products that have been historically doted as “female.”

Currently, the general population of public middle and high schools offers the availability of 1-3 counselors dependent on the ratio of the school. But, with middle schools typically housing 600+ students, and studies finding that 20% are dealing with undiagnosed mental health issues, that seems like a highly inadequate resource.