Better safe than sorry

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The security and police presence increased, even as Principal Lagreta Brown kept a watchful eye outside South Philadelphia High School as the students filed out Monday.

Since Friday, closed-door meetings have been ongoing with parents, community groups, School District of Philadelphia officials and students working to improve the culture at the 2101 S. Broad St. institution and get students, particularly Asian-Americans who vowed not to attend classes this week, to return. The goal has been to create one learning community.

"While we celebrate our differences we ought to celebrate what we have in common as well," Brown said.

The district announced yesterday it will form a coalition of multicultural organizations and officials to address race relations throughout the district, Chief Communications Officer Evelyn Sample-Oates said. The focus first will be on Southern, with a January launch, and will filter through the rest of the city.

"We realize that this is just not a South Philadelphia High School problem, that we have a problem throughout the district," Sample-Oates said, noting a director of diversity and education training will be brought in.

In less that a week, tensions have flared between the school’s African-American and Asian-American populations to such an extreme the latter students have boycotted classes and some are calling the escalating attacks race motivated. What began as a singular alleged incident has become full-on group fighting that has resulted in 10 suspensions and countless injuries.

But it has proven to be just the beginning.

The cohesive efforts became immediate when Chinese-American students boycotted the school last week. Some returned Monday, but many did not and the alleged assaults that prompted the walk-out are reportedly not the first. They are the most recent in a long line that have targeted Asian-Americans at Southern, Thoai Nguyen, CEO of Southeast Asian Mutual Assistance Associations Coalition, 1711 S. Broad St., which is working with six other agencies to support the students and resolve the situation, said.

"The Asian students at South Philadelphia High School have been patiently trying to work with school district officials for the last 18 months," Nguyen said. "Because they have not seen any improvement, the latest set of incidents has proven to be worse. That’s the reason why they’re walking out or boycotting the school."

Those targeted are mostly Chinese-Americans, but overall it is recent immigrants and those that speak accented English, Nguyen, a 1984 Southern graduate, said.

"One of the things we — the Asian community — are really interested in seeing is that these incidents are regarded as racial violence," the 35-year resident said. "They’re not just some isolated fights between kids. There are possibilities of hate crimes in some of these incidents."

The students are not just targeted at Southern with tensions spreading to their neighborhoods or from their communities to the school, Nguyen said, adding, "It’s infectious."

But, Sample-Oates said, "It’s not just African-American and Asian. It’s Asian against Asian. Chinese, Cambodian, Mandarin — they’re fighting each other."

A group of Asian-American protesters headed up North Broad Street prior to yesterday afternoon’s meeting with the School Reform Commission (Staff Photo by Greg Bezanis).

At about 8:50 a.m. Dec. 3, an African-American student allegedly punched a 17-year-old Asian-American male in the face while the boy was speaking to his teacher, Detective Danielle Tolliver of South Detective Division said. When the teen fell to the ground, a group of African-American males and at least one Asian-American male punched and kicked him for several minutes until school police intervened. The 17-year-old, who reported the incident to Philadelphia police, had a bruise on his back and an injured finger.

Tolliver attempted to interview witnesses and the students involved the following day at the school, but the allegedly assaulted students were absent, she said. According to the district’s preliminary investigation, the incident appeared to be retaliation for an occurrence the previous day. On the way to school Dec. 2, Tolliver said, a group of male Asian-American students allegedly jumped a handicapped African-American male after the group is believed to have intentionally bumped into him without apologizing.

The Asian-American students are believed to have asked the handicapped male and his friend that day to fight inside Walgreens, 2014 S. Broad, Sample-Oates added. The two declined, but were attacked anyway.

Ten students — six African-American and four Asian-Americans — were suspended, she said, following the Dec. 3 incident. When the investigation is complete, the instigators will be expelled, she said. Police questioned two students Tuesday as they investigate the possibility of criminal charges.

The Asian-American students have put forth demands to guarantee their safety, including installing additional security cameras; hiring security guards that speak an Asian language or have good relations with the group; closing off rarely used sections of the school, which is where students congregate and ambush others; and allowing students to sit in at school safety meetings, Nguyen said.

"Some of these suggestions have been forwarded or bought before former Principal [Alice] Heller and they were reiterated to Principal Brown and Regional Superintendent [Mike] Silverman," Nguyen, who sits on the Mayor’s Commission on Asian American Affairs and met with Mayor Michael Nutter’s staff, district officials and Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey and his staff to address the issue Tuesday, said.

Since September, more cameras have been added; two more security guards are outside the building each morning and at dismissal; and police have vowed to increase patrols in the neighborhood, Sample-Oates said.

"We’re going to try to work to make that happen," she said of the measures Asian-American students are seeking.

The affected Chinese-American students spoke at Wednesday’s School Reform Commission meeting, which concluded after press time, and the district hopes they will return to school once they hear of the measures being taken to increase overall safety, Sample-Oates said.

A previously scheduled meeting at Southern also will offer the floor to the current issue 4 p.m. today, Shalimar Blakely, media and communications liaison for state Rep. Kenyatta Johnson said of the Peace Not Guns Youth Town Hall Meeting that is expected to attract about 500 students and parents.

"He will allot some time to talk about the issue at Southern," she said, adding the school’s Chinese American Student Association and the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corp. were invited. "This event is talking about that issue of youth violence and helping youth to make a better decision as it is related to violence and being peaceful."

Even though the Asian-American community and the students want those responsible held accountable, they don’t want extreme punishment, but rather an exploration of different cultures, Nguyen said.

"We want to make sure that this is an opportunity that, yes, it’s a critical situation," he said. "It’s a crisis and it could spiral down to something worse, but we want to take the opportunity to build a community that is multiracial — black folks, Asian folks, white folks, Latin folks — that care about each other, have each other’s backs."

The school’s Ambassador program is working to eliminate any problems that led to last week’s events, member Amina Velazquez, of 23rd and Morris streets, said.

"So far, we’re just trying to get the kids to come to school and go to classes," the senior said Monday. "A couple of the kids that I am really cool with said they will come back only after this incident blows over. I guess they’re still scared."

The School District of Philadelphia’s 24-hour bully hot line is 215-400-SAFE.