Washington State Parents Want Answers & Protection for Their Sons
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What happens when a quiet area called Woodinville near Seattle, Washington gets shaken up because of vial racist taunts and death threats endured by boys of African descent? How about when this takes place in what was thought to be a safe school district in an area where these boys’ parents thought they could receive a “quality” education ? What happens when the education these parents were seeking because it was supposed to be much better than other districts and give their kids a better edge comes at a terrible cost that teaches them to fear for their lives? What happens when some white children decide they want to mistreat the black boys because of the color of their skin, doing things like purposely singing randomly made up rap songs to offend them using the “N” word as they walk by or making stereotypical comments about blacks & fried chicken? What happens when complaints are officially documented and the action by the school district falls short of making the families feel their children are protected yet the offending children go unfairly punished? And how about when this documentation includes group texts detailing what the plan is for the “ape men? or “nigg*rs.”
Right now in this real life scenario unfolding at various schools in the Northshore District in Washington State, parents are angry and challenging the district’s statements about what’s being done because they say it’s simply not happening fast enough. They feel their kids are suffering immensely. They believe they have documented proof that things they’re being told are done are not being done. I recently spoke with a few parents of some of the children who have had to deal with the awful behaviors non-minority children have lodged against their children of color and was sickened at how this still goes on no matter how many times we bring it to the forefront. The mere fact that I can’t publish their names due to the severity of the case disturbs me as they fear for the safety of their own families.
Where is the urgency by school officials to make sure these kids aren’t suffering emotionally because of what is going on? If this is happening, what is the delay in lodging criminal charges against the offenders? How could this be a district wide problem instead of an isolated school problem that, from the videos on YouTube of the board meetings themselves shows they’re dealt with unequally across the schools and they continue? Are the parents correct in saying the district is merely giving them lip service when they (the district) say an independent investigator was assigned yet no one is allowed to see the results of the investigation?
This story has recently made the local news and parents quickly put up a Facebook page so the district could understand THIS IS A PROBLEM they are not taking lightly and they refuse to let rest. Parents told me they are concerned about their kids even going back to school because of death threats as far in the future as next school year. These threats noted by parents who say they have proof stated offending students wanted to stab, shoot and enlist the help of the KKK to harm the “ape men” or African American students enrolled and this simply cannot be ignored. Subsequent threats of self-harm by the one of the offending students are disturbing s well. Additionally, unlike perceived complaints of racism that tend to permeate mainstream media from only African American parents, there are white parents involved as well who have adopted children of African descent from other countries that are being targeted too.
Schools have the right to conduct investigations into things like this to be sure to be fair to all parties involved; but, how long is too long before someone really gets hurt? And, why is it when things like this happen, the victims are somehow to blame as if they did something wrong by being black much like in the case of rape victims who are blamed for their own rapes? And let’s not make excuses for the other children involved or parents who say it’s simply harmless child’s play. Even in prisons people with emotional health concerns are held accountable for the things they say so why shouldn’t children who are old enough to know better in this case be held accountable as well? Would this be the case if the offending parties were the minority children and the victims the white children? History emphatically says, NO!
How many more schools must we hear about shootings at before we wake up and realize some of our kids have some real problems? How many more parents will ignore all of the danger signs from their children because they can’t face the reality they didn’t make a perfect child by no fault of their own? How many more times will we continue to cover up racism that will rear its ugly head no matter how much we try to pretend it’s not there? How many more minority children will be treated as though they are less than with this type of behavior perceived as being supported by people in charge who are supposed to be unbiased?
I don’t know what the answer is for this district but I can say when this type of bullying occurs at more than one school they are responsible for …….Houston…we have a problem! When attorneys are called in to mediate the friction and authorities aren’t notified right away as real threats meant to cause terror are made, again..….Houston…we have a problem! In this case though, it’s not the anecdotal Houston as in the movies but instead Washington state that has a problem.
Regardless of what side of the fence you sit on, it this is not resolved soon, the problem will continue to escalate and families could be faced with sorting out which children can be safely educated and which cannot or worse. Tensions are high and the powder keg needs to be diffused to sort out what’s happening here. One parent noted “we don’t need another Sandy Hook on our hands” and that thought shook me to my core.
As to the nature of the situation as a whole, it should be abundantly clear this is certainly bigger than just the “N” word. It is about harassment, terroristic type threats, lack of human regard for the rights of children to be protected in a timely and equitable fashion and denial of deep rooted concerns that could cause irreparable harm to kids including those carrying out these acts. It is clearly without the types of conversations that leave us feeling uncomfortable that things like this continue to exist. We can not continue to have a silo mindset and I personally would have the same compassion and desire to address these types of concerns regardless of the offending or victimized children’s races. Kids deserve and should have the right to feel safe in any learning environment.
In the face of this kind of uproar, not only do the children who are victims suffer but so does the surrounding community and it is my hope that the parties in control of this situation get a better handle on this sooner than later. The final plea from one parent was simply “please protect our boys.”
Photo: Stephen Depolo/Flickr
No child is safe until every child is safe.