Administration Claims Assembly in Response to Desegregation Mandate
Administrators at an Arkansas high school Wednesday announced over the intercom an assembly for Black freshmen students only. After parents voiced outrage that Black students at Maumelle High School were being singled out, administrators claimed the event was in response to a court desegregation mandate ordering the school to offer more options for minority students, KATV reports. Not only were Black students singled out, by the assembly was led by a local pastor.
“Freshmen students were identified by the school because it is a time of transition when they are more easily influenced,” Pulaski County Special School District spokesperson Deborah Roush explained in a statement. “Black students were selected with the intent that the assembly would be an extension of the district’s court-ordered desegregation efforts, which encourage programs and opportunities tailored to minority students.”
“Students who did not want to attend the program were not required to do so,” Roush claimed, not explaining how that was comunicated, and not considering how the students felt.Â
Roush also claimed the response to the pastor’s presentation “was overwhelmingly positive. The Pulaski County Special School District regrets that this inspirational program was not made available to all students and in the future will work to ensure that when outside speakers are brought into a school that all students are included.”
The ACLU has sent the school district a letter explaining the importance of equal protection under the law.
One student says he talked with his sister who attended the assembly. She thought it was racist and said the other students were asking why only African-Americans were called.Â
“What does that leave kids that are mixed?†Aaron Perkins, whom KATV says is biracial, said. “‘Oh, you know, that’s my other side that’s calling, let me go learn about gang-banging.’ To me it’s just wrong on every level.â€
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Image: Screenshot via KATV
Hat tip: Raw Story
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