California high school erupts in protest after racist messages are found on a library computer
A huge student protest unfolded at Berkeley High School on Thursday after one of the school’s library computers was changed to display racist messages, including an image that read “KKK Forever.”
On Wednesday night, Berkeley High’s Black Student Union tweeted a photo of a screen found on one of the school’s library computers. (Warning: disturbing language.)
Text on the screen read: “F—K ALL THE N——RS IN THE WORLD,” and “KKK FOREVER,” and threatened a “PUBLIC LYNCHING” on Dec. 9.
Berkeley’s Black Student Union released a statement on Wednesday night, calling the disturbing images “an act of blatant terrorism toward the Black students and staff members at Berkeley High.”
On Thursday morning, Berkeley High students walked out of their classes in protest of the racist attack, filling the nearby streets. Students chanted “Black Lives Matter,” and held up their fists in solidarity.
Members of UC Berkeley’s Black Student Union, the Berkeley High Black Student Union, and students at Berkeley High school stood on top of steps across from the library and passed around a megaphone.
“This is an act of domestic terrorism,” one student said. “This is terrorism, and it should be treated as such.”
“We’re always marching and stuff,” said another. “We need to actually do something.”
@berkeleyside walkout at bhs. pasarow speaking now. pic.twitter.com/LeWdMZMRIA
— claire (@eggaroos) November 5, 2015
https://twitter.com/tkeepittrill/status/662322291750010882
https://twitter.com/tkeepittrill/status/662324257666396161
Mark Coplan, a spokesman for Berkeley Unified School District, told Fusion on Thursday that around 800 students stood in protest in front of school. He said that the school district was conducting a “very strong investigation” with the help of local law enforcement agencies to figure out who posted the image on the library’s computer.
“We’re dealing with the pain and suffering of our students and staff, who are really struggling with this,” Coplan said. “We’re a community that doesn’t put up with this behavior.”
This isn’t the first racist incident at Berkeley High. Last year, a noose was found hanging from a tree at the school, and earlier this year, the school was forced to recall its yearbooks after they included an “offensive and racist phrase” that implied that a largely-black unit of the school was educating “future doctors, dentists, nurses, physicians, fire chiefs and trash collators.”
This is a developing story.