Hate crimes against young in Davis, CA

We have filed a case of racial hate and discrimination against the school district of Davis, California. Precious breakable children have been hurt and are being hurt. This is urgent. There have been deaths and hate crimes. My daughter experienced hate crimes, racism and harassment and was affected to such a level that we have moved from Davis, CA.
The level of racism and classism is so entrenched and families are at the mercy of the white elite. When I witnessed overt racial hate, (a carload of white youths wanted to see the terror on my face) I filed with the police immediately as I got their liscence plate number. The police found them and told me their parents would get them counseling and I was emailed an apology by one of the boys. I couldn’t believe this.
When my daughter experienced overt, racial ridicule in 2003, by white male students making monkey-like movements around her as she tried to perform a dance from Trinidad, during Black History Month, I knew that was the breaking straw for her. You see, the schools did not celebrate Black History Month and she took this on as a project to share what was normal in other parts of the US. A week later when I saw my daughter collapse in grief on the school campus upon learning the suicide death of her friend, the decision was made to get her away from Davis. See attachement about his death.
In 2001, I was told to be patient when we felt a climate of racism and no real action or protection being shown. My daughter told of racial jokes and harassement and I the parent did not feel welcomed at the school. Teachers seemed to not see or hear racists comments, being said on a daily basis, in their classrooms.
In July 2002, we parents, started sharing and finding similar events of harassement and the school’s failure to take action. Complaints seemed to go nowhere and the Superintendent actually stated that he received no complaints from parents. My first formal meeting with him and BECA (Blacks for an Effective Community) was where I heard an actual death threat against an African American male honor roll student by white students in the HS. I witnessed the superintendent encouraging the parents, to keep all quiet. This student could enter Univ. of CA in Davis on early enrollment and the son could take his senior year courses off the Davis HS campus. The mother cried at this meeting and at the next meeting stated her son just wanted to get out and never return. She told of a web site with racist writings and her son’s name listed to be killed. My shock was that the Supt. Never offered words of accountability of white perpertrators and police intervention.
Many of us started to meet with a rep of the DOJ community resource person, Booker Neal. We tried to work with the school system and found that systemic segregation and the coddling of Caucasian perpertrators. We were being labeled troublemakers when in Nov 2002, we request a Standard Operating Procedure before a Columbine event happened in Davis. . When the district’s own complaint supervisor documented how the district was not in compliance with their own Safe School’s mandate and started documenting teachers and even a principal engaging in racist behavior, she was isolated from her job. A Hate Crime Grand Jury started calling people in.
In 2003, all exploded in Davis. Enclosed are only a few of them. I have done research and found that the identical reports came to the Dept of Justice as far back as 1974. Recommendations that fit exactly to today’s events were made then but never enacted. 20 years ago a Vietnamese boy was stabbed to death on the HS campus after enduring months of racial torment, and the same things we did, were done then. The principal at that time went on to become today’s Superintendent. In 1985, when racial epithets were running rampart on HS campus, the same principal stated that he didn’t hear of any racial tension. Same statements he gave in 2002. When white students at JHS doned black face and performed a minstrail like dance in a play, please do read what he said at that time, that should have sent off alarms. Instead the same person was bumped up the ranks
My daughter went very quickly from a B student to a student Failing every subject. She went from a mover and shaker to a person who was moved and shaken. And this happened in one year and a few months. The Dept of Justice in San Francisco now says the time limit for the episodes in my daughter’s life are no longer viable to be looked into and also because we cannot put an exact date and time when the racist jokes or names were called this is no longer viable for discrimination. The event with the Black History Month doesn’t fit into the little box of discrimination because we could not make out what the white students were saying to my daughter as she danced, and my daughter was too traumitized to hear their words. She could only make out their faces of hate and their laughter. I will refile and I will continue to refile. My daughter deserved and many other children need to be protected and be offered the opportunity to a free public education.
We started a group call CARE. The white majority is again trying to lock out voices of dissent. I am convinced this is so much larger than a parent’s advocacy group can solve. I will not just leave Davis and be quiet.We have a story to tell and my daughter has survived something I would never have imagined.