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Asian protests against racism lead to US anti-bias pact
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http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20101221_Asian_students
_praised_for_role_in_2_Philly_school_settlements.html
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20101216_School_Distric
t
_agrees_to_U_S__guidelines_on_South_Philadelphia_High.html
The Philadelphia School District on Wednesday agreed to
strict guidelines on protecting South Philadelphia High
students from racial bias, and said it would submit to
federal and state oversight on its progress.
The U.S. Justice Department in July notified officials
that based on its investigation, the district had
deprived Asian students at the school of equal protection
"by remaining deliberately indifferent to known instances
of severe and pervasive student-on-student harassment of
Asian students based on their race, color, and/or
national origin."
District officials denied those findings, but chose to
reach a settlement to avoid further legal action. The
School Reform Commission ratified the agreement with the
Justice Department and the Pennsylvania Human Relations
Commission on Wednesday.
At the commission meeting, Superintendent Arlene Ackerman
said the accord shows "just how vitally important it is
that everyone be treated with dignity and respect," and
recognizes "lessons learned and the tremendous steps that
the students, teachers, principals, and staff have taken
over the past year."
In settling the claims filed by Asian students and their
advocates, the district agreed to a range of provisions,
including language on how racial harassment complaints
must be taken and investigated, translation services for
immigrant students and their parents, and required annual
training for staff.
Student leader Wei Chen said his community "did not want
money or lawsuits. What we wanted was a clear statement
that what had been happening at our school was wrong in
the eyes of the federal government."
Both Chen and Helen Gym, a board member of Asian
Americans United, said the pact proved that the attacks
and harassment were racially motivated. District
officials, they said, had tried to pin blame elsewhere.
In an interview, Thomas E. Perez, assistant U.S. attorney
general for the Civil Rights Division, commended
activists "like Wei Chen and others who came forward" as
"real heroes."
South Philadelphia High exploded Dec. 3, 2009, when 30
Asians were attacked during a daylong series of assaults
carried out by mostly African American students.
The attacks triggered a boycott and the formal
complaints. Those complaints were folded into the consent
decree, which was filed Wednesday in federal court and
will be in effect until June 2013.
Both the Justice Department and the Human Relations
Commission will be watching. The court order calls for
monitoring by both agencies, periodic reports on the
district's progress, and an outside consultant to
recommend improvements.
Perez said the agreement gave the department a road map
to root out harassment in other school districts.
Instances of bullying and harassment are on the upswing,
Perez said, and in the future, "our goal is not to come
in after the train wreck to pick up the pieces," but to
prevent problems.
Zane David Memeger, U.S. attorney for the Eastern
District of Pennsylvania, promised at a news conference
that the Justice Department would "step in to make sure
that school districts ensure a safe environment" for
students facing harassment and bullying.
That the Justice Department had to intervene at all drew
criticism.
Gym, of Asian Americans United, upbraided district
officials.
"As appalling as the December attacks on Asian immigrant
youth were, it was the egregious conduct of school and
district officials in the months leading up to that day
and the months since that warranted federal
intervention," Gym said at the School Reform Commission
meeting. "We celebrate the lasting gains of these
agreements. We hope that they are also welcomed with a
measure of abiding humility and deep sorrow for the lack
of action which required it."
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXI0_TypHmI[1]
Uploader: UncookedVanilla[2]
References
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXI0_TypHmI (link)
2. http://www.youtube.com/user/UncookedVanilla (link)
Date Published: 2019-09-14 12:39:48
Identifier: youtube-LXI0_TypHmI
Item Size: 15494151
Media Type: movies
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