Hunter
11/11/21
This week’s Iowa City Community School District board meeting took a more serious turn when recent racist incidents were brought up.
The Press-Citizen reports that over the weekend, two students shared racist social media posts, one involving blackface and the other using a black racial slur. The incidents spurred protests Monday and Tuesday at West High and Northwest Junior High.
Superintendent Matt Degner said the incidents would be dealt with but did not elaborate due to student privacy laws. However, students told the newspaper that the student in the video using the racial slur had been suspended.
Degner is quoted as saying, “Our students are telling us that we are tolerating discrimination and harassment. Our students are telling us that we’re creating an environment where hatred and bigotry can grow. Our students are telling us that they do not feel safe. We must listen to them.”
West High principal Mitch Gross told the paper in an interview Wednesday that members of the school administration and student leaders met for about four hours this week and made plans to create a Black Student Union, a building equity team, and to hold weekly restorative justice meetings as a way to respond to racist events.
About two hours was spent during the board meeting on the subject, with dozens of students and parents relating their experiences and calling for change.
