Following 10 suspensions that resulted from fights last week, South Philadelphia High is trying to find a way to alleviate in-school racial tensions.
Police were stationed outside of Southern, 2101 S. Broad St., Tuesday afternoon to keep a watchful eye on the students and their safety (Photo by Sabrina Jacot).
The security and police presence increased, even as Principal Lagreta Brown kept a watchful eye outside South Philadelphia High School as the students filed out Monday.
Since Friday, closed-door meetings have been ongoing with parents, community groups, School District of Philadelphia officials and students working to improve the culture at the 2101 S. Broad St. institution and get students, particularly Asian-Americans who vowed not to attend classes this week, to return. The goal has been to create one learning community.
"While we celebrate our differences we ought to celebrate what we have in common as well," Brown said.
The district announced yesterday it will form a coalition of multicultural organizations and officials to address race relations throughout the district, Chief Communications Officer Evelyn Sample-Oates said. The focus first will be on Southern, with a January launch, and will filter through the rest of the city.
"We realize that this is just not a South Philadelphia High School problem, that we have a problem throughout the district," Sample-Oates said, noting a director of diversity and education training will be brought in.
In less that a week, tensions have flared between the school's African-American and Asian-American populations to such an extreme the latter students have boycotted classes and some are calling the escalating attacks race motivated. What began as a singular alleged incident has become full-on group fighting that has resulted in 10 suspensions and countless injuries.
But it has proven to be just the beginning.
The cohesive efforts became immediate when Chinese-American students boycotted the school last week. Some returned Monday, but many did not and the alleged assaults that prompted the walk-out are reportedly not the first. They are the most recent in a long line that have targeted Asian-Americans at Southern, Thoai Nguyen, CEO of Southeast Asian Mutual Assistance Associations Coalition, 1711 S. Broad St., which is working with six other agencies to support the students and resolve the situation, said.
"The Asian students at South Philadelphia High School have been patiently trying to work with school district officials for the last 18 months," Nguyen said. "Because they have not seen any improvement, the latest set of incidents has proven to be worse. That's the reason why they're walking out or boycotting the school."
Those targeted are mostly Chinese-Americans, but overall it is recent immigrants and those that speak accented English, Nguyen, a 1984 Southern graduate, said.
"One of the things we -- the Asian community -- are really interested in seeing is that these incidents are regarded as racial violence," the 35-year resident said. "They're not just some isolated fights between kids. There are possibilities of hate crimes in some of these incidents."
The students are not just targeted at Southern with tensions spreading to their neighborhoods or from their communities to the school, Nguyen said, adding, "It's infectious."
But, Sample-Oates said, "It's not just African-American and Asian. It's Asian against Asian. Chinese, Cambodian, Mandarin -- they're fighting each other."
A group of Asian-American protesters headed up North Broad Street prior to yesterday afternoon's meeting with the School Reform Commission (Staff Photo by Greg Bezanis).
At about 8:50 a.m. Dec. 3, an African-American student allegedly punched a 17-year-old Asian-American male in the face while the boy was speaking to his teacher, Detective Danielle Tolliver of South Detective Division said. When the teen fell to the ground, a group of African-American males and at least one Asian-American male punched and kicked him for several minutes until school police intervened. The 17-year-old, who reported the incident to Philadelphia police, had a bruise on his back and an injured finger.
Minutes after celebrating with her first-period English class Jan. 22 for scoring higher on a standardized test than the rest of their fellow students at Audenried High School, as well as the School District of Philadelphia’s average, teacher Brynn Keller felt powerless.
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1. John Polowski said... on Dec 9, 2009 at 05:37PM
“Apparently it is less a hate crime as long as it is against Asians. Power speaks volume! Blacks earn "respect" by their violent nature. Asians, by nature, are physically weak. However, the laws allow everyone to protect themselves by legally possessing weapons. Asian students should consult legal experts to sue the school, the school district and the city. You are paying tax, not to be beaten at school! And those commited crimes ought to be prosecuted. The sad reality is, Asians are outnumbered in this country and are not violent by nature, and therefore, do not gain much attention and respect from this white-black dominated country”
2. Rob56 said... on Dec 10, 2009 at 05:12AM
“can you imagine if it was the other way around and let's say white students attacked only black students, this news would be national and Al Sharpton would be here to protest. Why is there such a double standard? They aren't really even classifying it as racial, what a joke!”
3. gloriaendres said... on Dec 11, 2009 at 03:56AM
“The worst part of this fiasco is that CEO Ackerman as much as blamed the victims at her belated meeting with the community. She brought up the previous incident of a black student attacked by Asians...as IF that might justify a race riot on campus. Regardless of the motivation, the rules against bullying need to be enforced equally and fairly for everyone. If any staffers belittled the students making the complaint, they should be replaced. Ackerman always makes a big deal about adults being responsible, but she won't take responsibility for the climate at that school, which she has unwitingly encouraged by her dumb remarks. ”
4. mimi said... on Dec 11, 2009 at 05:42AM
“there should be another High School in South Philly just for the kids who go to school because it's the law and there's nonthing eles to do.......and let the kids who want to learn go to the real school sad after all said and done even with a bi-raceal president they still don't get it......welfare is there goal”
5. gloriaendres said... on Dec 11, 2009 at 02:05PM
“Breaking news! The Asian students are suing the School District in Federal Court. About time they held the administration "accountable" for something. Ackerman touts accountability for everyone in the district but has not taken the blame for anything. How does it feel, Arlene?”
6. Name said... on Dec 12, 2009 at 12:39PM
“racism was passed on to the kids by adults. Maybe they should change their image.”
7. Me said... on Dec 14, 2009 at 10:35AM
“Hey mimi why dont u go tell a black person to their face that welfare is their goal. ”
8. Me said... on Dec 14, 2009 at 02:17PM
“oh... and btw mimi is it the asian people goal to be on wic because the people at the south philly wic office is 97% asain. whats the difference between welfare and wic?? not a damn thing it's all free food from the goverment lol!!! Dummy ”
9. tomlist said... on Dec 15, 2009 at 10:23AM
“i urge both the students and the school board to go to the David Lynch Foundation website and see ilf there might be a permanent solution to this situation.”
10. Name said... on Dec 15, 2009 at 04:15PM
“Why did it take so long to response to such racial violences in South Philly. I had heard about this situation about 2 years ago and one of my tenant even moved out of the area this summer due to concern for their kids' safety. This is sure to be a civil right violation by the school district, the school itself, and the City for not taking the violence seriously when it first happened. Why should the residences continue to pay their school taxes to the district if the purpose of school taxes is to help with their kids' education. When I heard about this type of violence from my formal tenant this past summer before he moved out the area, I thought it couldn't have happened in our City because the NAACP and the rest of the African-American community always spoke about racial equality and social justice in our country. Hopefully, some important figure or organization could set a role model to call for peace. ”
11. gloriaendres said... on Dec 15, 2009 at 05:33PM
“Bullying is as old as Cain and Abel and for the same reason. Jealousy. The wasy to stop it is to build communities and school spirit. You do that with lots of creative and engaging activities like music, dance, drama, sports, chess teams, etc. Southern has some of those things but not enough. You also let students know that no aggressive behavior will be tolerated. Of course the students who did the beating should be expelled. Trouble is that they are running out of alternative schools. ”