For my current event, I decided to search the Philadelphia, Inquirer, because that’s my hometown and I wanted to see what was up.  I came across this article, which is about a group of Asian-American high school students at South Philadelphia High School, who have been violently attacked numerous times.  Why, you might ask?  Racial differences could be the major reason.  The school district has been informed but has failed to take any real action.  Yesterday, (the 11th), a student, Wei Chen, addressed the media during a news conference, saying he will file a complaint to the U.S. Department of Justice for Civil Rights.  He will charge the district for ignoring the students’ protective rights, because it contradicts the Constitution’s 14th Amendment.  Around 30 Asian students total were attacked in and out of school, averaging about 4 to 5 attacks per day, mostly by African-American students.   50 Asian students even boycotted the school last Monday.  Many of them fear going back to school.

Fortunetely, there is a new safety plan.  A new program called the “Spirit Program” will begin, which will serve as a way to resolve and prevent future racial conflict.  The school has also purchased 63 security cameras, 21 of which will be installed by the 4th, and the rest later on.  There will also be new school police officers.  The old police officers, who were there on the day of the attacks and I guess failed to do anything, have been assigned to other schools.  One new officer who is African-American even speaks fluent Cantonese from living in Hong Kong for seven years.  Hopefully he will be able to eavesdrop on some students to see whats going on (or a future Asian American revolution?!).

It doesn’t surprise me one bit that all this is occuring in Philadelphia.  Although Philly holds much history and is all-around the best, it is extremely violent.  My old school was a public school right outside the city.  there would be fights all the time– in the hallways, during lunch, even right before or after school.  People would videotape them, cheer people on, yell things, laugh, etc.  I was a person who stood there in horror or kept walking, as a teacher came to break them up, only to find the grainy cellphone video of it on facebook later that day.  We had maybe a few security guards, but neither them nor suspension is enough to stop future attacks.  Most of the fights that went on in my school were not based on race or ethnicity, unlike in this article.  They were just full of anger and hate, probably even bored.  It was really sad to see people acting that way.  The fights in my school were not even close to as bad as a repeating attacks in SPHS.   I kind of wish my old school would pay attention more to the prevention of fights, like this school has just started to do.  If they continue to hardly do a thing, students such as Chen could go to the press and the school would be in even bigger trouble.  It really is unfair that their education be violated because they are too afraid to return to school.  I definetely would be if I were them.  I’m glad those students know their rights in the 14th amendment and are finally taking action.  If they hadn’t, the issue could increase, and never go away.  

EQUAL RIGHTS TO ALL.