Gimme Three Steps

The School District's patented way to make problems go away.

by Isaiah Thompson

	print	email	reply	rss feed

Published: Sep 22, 2010

On friday, two Chinese students were attacked at Bok Vocational High School in South Philadelphia by a group of about 10 other students — some or all of them black, apparently. The students were hospitalized and released with minor injuries; so far, one student identified as an attacker has been arrested. It was an ugly incident, eerily reminiscent of the attack last December on more than 20 Asian South Philadelphia High School students by a group of mostly black students — just the kind of incident, in other words, that called for the Philadelphia School District's patented technique of making problems go away in just three easy steps.

Step One: Offer a backstory that spreads blame and de-emphasizes race. In her first public comments about the Dec. 3 violence at South Philadelphia High School, Superintendent Arlene Ackerman told reporters that the attacks on Asian students were retaliation for an attack on a "disabled African-American student," — an incident that was never substantiated. A month later, she said the attacks were "gang-related" — a claim later withdrawn. The day after the Bok attack, the District explained that it was "part of a pre-planned freshman hazing ritual," explained a spokesman. Though the "ritual" targeted only the two Chinese students, the District was sure "race was not a motivating factor."

Step two: Order suspensions, invoke "zero tolerance," and don't look back. The first suspension after the South Philly High violence was Vietnamese student Hao Luu — himself a victim of an attack the day before [Cover Story, "The Fall Guy," Isaiah Thompson, March 18, 2010]. Some eight or nine more students were later suspended, and Ackerman called for "zero tolerance" of school violence — a policy that ignores systemic issues at the root of violence. The morning after the Bok High attack, Principal Larry Melton called for the alleged attackers' expulsion, adding, "I'm pleased to say this was an isolated incident."

Step three: Issue a report with vague conclusions and recommendations, and call it a day. Following the Dec. 3 attacks, the District released a $100,000 report by retired Judge James T. Giles that ignored a long history of antagonism toward Asian students at the school, relied on unsubstantiated theories of provocation and concluded that while race was a factor, the whole thing was largely a misunderstanding. Among his recommendations: "further investigation." No report has been issued thus far on the Bok High mêlée. But on Wednesday, the District's Racial and Cultural Harmony Task Force — established after the Dec. 3 attacks — was set to issue its final report, albeit five months late. Among its recommendations: "Focus on hiring diverse staff," and "more funding ... for cultural activities." Other solutions to racial disharmony included having students wear "dresses/costumes native to their cultures," or the idea that "breakfasts and lunches should accommodate cultural diversity."

The report, whose recommendations are literally cobbled quotes from surveys of different schools, makes no substantive policy recommendations, sets no goals or metrics of evaluation and holds no one accountable to any standard of progress whatsoever.

It is, in a word, just what the District ordered.

It's never an isolated incident. E-mail isaiah.thompson@citypaper.net.

A Million Stories