BIRMINGHAM--The Seaholm community is asking questions after a string of racial incidents that began Wednesday, April 20 and continued through the week of April 24.
Seaholm administrators and Birmingham Police are investigating four different events each appearing to be racially motivated.
Meanwhile, students have planned three separate student organized activities they say stand up against racism.
The first racial bullying incident occurred on Wednesday, April 20. It consisted of a graffiti message on the wall of the boys’ bathroom listing five names and reading “These N******* need to be lynched.”
In the week following, three notes were found, two of which were stuffed into African American students’ lockers and the other placed in the mailbox of an African American teacher.
“I was shocked,” one student, whose name was mentioned on the bathroom wall, said. “I’m pretty nice to everyone, so I don’t get why my name was on the list.”
According to Principal Terry Piper, a student found the bathroom graffiti mid-day on Wednesday. It was brought to the attention of Assistant Principal Deb Boyer and then quickly erased after pictures were taken for evidence.
Piper brought the five targeted students down to his office late in the day on Thursday April 21, to inform them of what had just occurred as well as helping them cope with the situation.
They went over possible suspects and tried to answer the question why. They came up empty handed due the fact that the five students weren’t connected in any way, aside from their race.
Thursday, April 21 a note was found in a Seaholm teacher’s mailbox containing a racial slur and a message that equated to “you aren’t welcome here.”
The administration took this very seriously, calling an all staff meeting at 7 am on Monday morning and a parent meeting for that Tuesday.
On Tuesday, April 26, Piper also taped a message for the students that would play the next day, on Wednesday, April 27 and BPS superintendent Dr. David Larson sent out an e-mail explaining the situation to parents.
“It’s a positive step being here [at the parent meeting],” an African-American Seaholm parent said. “[It is] not a quick fix, [this] takes time.”
Moments before the parent meeting was expected to start, Piper was notified by Seaholm Athletic Director Aaron Frank that junior Essence Biggs, an African American student, had found a note, much like the one given to a teacher, on her locker shelf on Tuesday April 26.
The note Biggs found stated that “you may be a house n***** but you’re still a n*****, and you should go back to where you came from.” Biggs said she was surprised and upset, when she discovered the note, but said that as an African American, she would likely face racial bullying again.
“I am going to have to deal with this,” Biggs said. “So I might as well get used to it.”
Between Tuesday and Thursday this week, evidence of racial discrimination continued to appear. One other racial note was found in the locker of a freshman African American student.
Each of the notes suggested the African American race was inferior to Caucasians and that African Americans’ don’t belong at Seaholm.
A student whose name was listed on the wall said he was bullied because of his race throughout his career at Seaholm. Last year, he said, things seemed to have simmered down but then picked right back up this year.
“It gets better and then it gets worse,” the student, who asked not to be named, said. “A lot worse.”
On Wednesday, another graffiti note was found in the girls’ bathroom, and although the note had no direct racial comments it could have been taken offensively. However, a direct connection to the other events is not yet known. The note read “Haters, I may be a b****, I maybe be a fa**ot, I may be a whitey. But I’m something that you’ll never be.”
These words are in the chorus of Marilyn Manson’s song, “Better of Two Evils.” Piper currently doesn’t know the intention of the graffiti and how it relates to the other incidents.
“It was almost a cry for help,” Piper said.
Students at Seaholm immediately responded to these events, reacting positively and strongly by planning both a student run assembly, a wide spread anti-racism campaign and a Candlelight Vigil Mindset Movement set to be on May 6th. Additional student lead events to strengthen the community have been planned.
“It is a teachable moment,” BPS superintendent David Larson said at the parent meeting on Tuesday, April 26. “As staff, students and parents model what is the right thing to do.” /p>
The Highlander is in the process of obtaining the police report that was filed by Boyer and Piper on Wednesday April 20th. The report is still under investigation by Birmingham Police and won’t be released until it is closed.
Posted By: Siebra Muhammad
Sunday, May 1st 2011 at 2:48PM
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