|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Police are investigating a vandalism case after overtly racist messages were found spray painted on a classroom at Huff Elementary School earlier this week.
Mountain View Whisman School District officials say they intend to work with officers to track down whoever is responsible, calling the act “deplorable,” illegal and a violation of social mores in Mountain View.
In a letter to the community Tuesday, Superintendent Ayinde Rudolph said school staff became aware of the racial epithets spray painted onto a portable building on Sunday morning, and that the words “I hate n—–s” had been scrawled over a school mural.
Rudolph said the words were accompanied by images of a “white supremacist frog icon,” likely referring to Pepe the Frog, and a crude picture portraying African Americans. The graffiti has since been removed and the school mural repaired.
This was not an isolated incident. Over the past month, four such incidents of vandalism have occurred on school campuses, Rudolph said, and Graham Middle School had also been spray painted with hateful and vulgar tagging.
Just last week, district officials had convened a community meeting to talk about race and policing, drawing nearly 100 attendees over Zoom. Rudolph said there was a resounding commitment to improving relations between police and communities of color, regardless of the outcome of the election.
“Less than 72 hours after sending a message to affirm to the community that regardless of who wins the election we will continue to move forward, someone smeared libelous comments towards Vice President Biden on our school buildings,” Rudolph said.
The Mountain View Police Department is working closely with the school district to investigate the case of vandalism at Huff Elementary School, according to police spokeswoman Katie Nelson.
“We are disheartened to see someone in our community sink to this level,” Nelson said. “We stand by Superintendent Rudolph’s message.”
Police officials are not aware of a vandalism incident involving derogatory or racist graffiti at Graham Middle School, but noted one recent case in which minors were found with alcohol, vape pens and cannabis on the roof of one of the school’s facilities, Nelson said.
The racist vandalism, Rudolph said in the letter, is just the latest reminder that Mountain View — despite taking efforts to embrace diversity — still has work to do in fighting discrimination, bigotry and racism, however overt or veiled it is. He pointed out that, as a black man, he is tired of his appointment as a school superintendent being an “unprecedented move” that should be both a surprise and a singular focus.
“It is comments like these, the false equivalency that is leveled, the use of code words, the public incidents that have been previously documented, coupled with what took place this weekend at our school that shows that Mountain View still has room for improvement,” Rudolph said.
Race relations in the city have been a focus for Mountain View since June, when local protests over the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers boiled over into demands for police reform. The City Council has since created a committee on race, equity and inclusion which — though focused primarily on police reform — is also grappling with larger race issues affecting residents.
The committee’s strategy includes forums intended to create an open dialogue about race and ways to create a more safe, welcoming community for all, as well as a clear “action plan” for improving racial justice and equity.
Rudolph said the recent racist acts of vandalism have not discouraged his faith in the residents of Mountain View, and that he believes this can be an opportunity to talk with children about inclusiveness and work to reduce hatred in the community.
“To those who have acted out in a vitriolic manner, your actions will not dissuade my belief in our great city,” Rudolph said. “Instead, you have helped the citizens of our community to see that Mountain View is not immune to this type of hatred. Your behavior helps us to band together to stamp out racism”
Dear Community – THIS is one type of issue that schools can control (when absolutely necessary) by EXTERNAL SAFETY CAMERAS, with digital storage and connection to the police. And PERIMETER CONTRAOLS – that can “occasionally” be used when there is a cluster of these kinds of events.
The MV Police Chief, mentioned to me (informal talk years ago when he wasn’t yet Chief) that he personally thought security cameras were more important for police work related to the public schools than fencing. This is an example where camera recording would help the police, and protect public investment (and protect children from hateful unprotected ‘speech’).
This is not something that video cameras PREVENTS. We, as a community, must loudly denounce this racism and ensure that anti-racist curricula is in all of our schools. We have multiple districts that our students attend, and all efforts must be inter-district to ensure continuity of holistic education which doesn’t shy away from the tough conversations to dismantle racism. I fully support Dr. Rudolph and his efforts to provide this kind of education through the Better Together program. It is important for us, as adults, to model growth by choosing to learn about systemic racism, how it functions in our society at large and our community in MV, and to counter racist acts and microaggressions as they happen. Fences and cameras will not stop racism–only a concerted effort by our collective community can work to address the harms and demand accountability when it comes to racism.
The first two posters address different problems: (1) vandalism and (2) racism. Cameras would discourage the first and help identify culprits. As to racism, and without trying to discount the Superintendent’s points, an update on the race for President and Vice-President is in order. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris still lead in votes counted in Nevada and Arizona and are on track to win in Georgia and Pennsylvania. But Trump is not about to surrender the WHITE HOUSE without trying to prevent the seating of enough members of the Electoral College to select Biden and Harris. It takes an absolute majority of electors (270) to win. If Trump can tie up in court the issue of who has won a few swing states and, therefore, whose slates of electors qualify to sit and vote in December, then the Electoral College will not make the decision. Instead, the President would be chosen by the House of Representatives in January – voting as state delegations: one state, one vote. Currently, Republicans hold the majority of House seats in 26 states (22 Democrat majorities and 2 delegations with an equal number). Trump would then receive a second term.
Gary–way to hijack a discussion about racism with something that doesn’t address what is going on in our community. Be part of the solution, not part of the effort to NOT discuss racism. The election results have nothing to do with this–not at all. This is a community issue where some of our neighbors decided they needed to denigrate the Black community. So what are you going to do about racism in MV?
Responding to HAB. First of all, I am not going to pretend that the national voting for President and Vice President has “nothing to do with” racism in America including in Mountain View. Second, without cameras, we may never know who wrote racist comments on the school. It could have been one guy from Sunnyvale or Los Altos or Moscow. Third, I certainly favor working groups in Mountain View addressing the state of racism here and what should be done. Years ago, I saw some folks on national tv talking about their program of meeting with school children and telling them what really counts is not skin color but the color of one’s eyes. Brown eyes are best. People – including children – with brown eyes are smarter and will be more successful than people with eyes of other colors. That advice lead the children shown to think they were superior or inferior based on the color of their eyes. The advisors then changed the story. Actually, it is brown-eyed people who are inferior. The roles were reversed. You should have seen the response from children. They had now all experienced being discriminated against irrationally and unfairly. But wait – they are told. It is all a lie. Of course no one is better than anyone else based on the color of one’s eyes or, by the way, the color of one’s skin.
In other news: “Bay Area Woman Finds New Job”
https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2020/11/07/kamala-harris-vice-president-elect-calls-joe-biden-2020-us-election-postelex-ldn-vpx.cnn
Congrats, Madam Vice President-Elect!
Call the Movers,
I think it is still going to be Congrats The Honorable Mistress Vice President-Elect
I personally love the fact she is called MISTRESS.
I would be happy to serve her.
We were having a discussion of RACISM and you guys just want to boast about the prospective installation as vice president of Kamala Harris. I say “prospective” because it has not happened yet. And “installation” because the president and vice-president are not elected but selected by appointed members of the Electoral College. I am not for Donald Trump. But Trump is not done. His people are demanding recounts and suing. To see where the Trump operatives are headed, you should take a look at something written in 1803. It is called the 12th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Read it and ask yourself: if I were a crooked first-term president or a supporter of one, what could be done under the 12th Amendment to steal a second term?
Gary,
You bring up an interesting situation but lets look at the 12th amendment
OK here is an interesting kicker, it doesn’t require specific people to be present during the process it just says they must be “transmitted” so for example the House of Representative are NOT required to be present.
So, if the current President cannot get the courts, (which would require EVIDENCE to entertain any consideration) to hold any questions regarding the legality of the vote counts, that should be the end of it, but say it does then this can happen:
Say for example they do try to revert to the house or houses of representatives, then it could be designed that the houses of representatives both federal and state could be “boycotted” so that the required 2/3rd of their membership are not present, thus FORCEING the public vote to be the controlling factor, right? I would think that the majority of the states do not have more than 2/3rds of their houses to be Republicans.
The 12th Amendment does say that in that case Pence would be ACTING president and Harris would be ACTING vice president temporarily. But that only means it would last until March 4th right? the Elector Votes will be certified and then they must be presented. Thus this would “install” Joe Biden as President in the long run. Right?
So, it looks like Donald Trump HIMSELF cannot be President under this situation. It would only be a stalling action. But I understand WHY it would be done. If Biden is sworn in the first thing he will do is withdraw the argument against the ACA, thus forcing to dismiss the Supreme Court case, right?
How about this: the appointment of electors must be certified by governors of the states. See that in the 12th Amendment? What if the Republican governors of Arizona and Georgia refuse to certify as appointed the Biden slates from their states? Maybe even certifying the Trump slates instead. And what if those states and others such as Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and Michigan have their results being challenged in the courts – say in the U.S. Supreme Court – on the federal statutory meeting date for the Electoral College: December 14? Where does Biden get 270 votes or even a majority of electors appointed? If the Electoral College does not pick the next President on December 14, the choice of President falls to the United State House of Representatives on January 6: one vote per state. Republicans hold an absolute majority of House members in a majority of the states. It is 26-22 with 2 states with an equal number. As far as I can tell, that advantage will remain in the “new Congress” in January. Republicans will be gaining some seats – not losing seats. . On a call for a vote by state in the House on January 6, Trump would win (absent Republican defections). Could still House Speaker Pelosi refuse to allow a vote for President in the House in defiance of the 12th Amendment? The Supreme Court would say NO. So Steven. Not to encourage fret. But the Trump lawyers are not demanding time-consuming recounts and filing lawsuits just for fun – or even for money. They have a strategy.
Gary,
What you are describing in this case is truly scary.
Because you know he inevitable result would probably result in a Constitutional Crisis and even a new Civil War. The Biden voters would revolt.
OMG this country cannot find itself in that position can we? The Pandemic is bad enough! Do you think the GOP would go that far?
Perhaps this was Putin’s plan all along when he funded the Trump 2016 campaign?
I know it is inadequate, but I want to say to the targets of this crime, you are welcome here, and to the perpetrators, you are not.
I forgot to say this:
I completely agree with Joel, this situation is showing how extreme bias against others is being accepted by so many. This is not conservatism, it is fascism and hatred.
My greatest apologies to the School.
I guess none of you could stay on topic and discuss ways of dismantling racism in Mountain View. Incredibly sad that you need to distract from a discussion on racism in our city. There are many articles that are discussing the election on which you could have had your say.
And, Gary, I said the election results don’t have anything to do with this incident because no matter the results, systemic racism in Mountain View needs to be addressed. Racism wasn’t dead when this man took office, and he emboldened it, but it won’t go away with a change of President. It’s clear that far too many people are unwilling and unable to discuss systemic racism without blaming one person as the source of it. The source of it is white supremacy culture. I recommend all the people who distracted from what needs to be a serious conversation look up the symptoms of white supremacy culture and analyze how many of those symptoms they displayed in this discussion thread about racism in Mountain View.
Ultimately, this is about safety for our Black community members. What are all you men going to do about dismantling racism in Mountain View? What power do you hold that you can use to dismantle racism in MV, your workplaces, your places of worship, your families, your community? What organizations do you belong to that could be making statements of solidarity right now instead of dissecting an election while also following up with concrete actions?
Well thanks HAB for the follow-up. But I did address racism in response to your earlier criticism that the Presidential race was beside the point. Half of voters in America just voted for a sociopath and racist. And he may not be President come January 20. But might still. Those things are significant. Racism is a problem across the country and the world – including in Mountain View. But, as I noted, we don’t know where the writings came from. Could have been most anyone from anywhere – a racist or someone trying to drawn attention to racism. What do you think, HAB, about the program for school children I described above? For it or against it? And HAB, what are YOU going to do about racism? Post on articles? What else? I suggested “working groups” for Mountain View. For example, the city government has a human rights commission. It previously sponsored a discussion of police interactions with racial minorities. Were you around then?
I “think” this article / event is about criminal vandalism of a public school motivated by BLATENT racism. There is nothing hidden about it, as sometimes happens with systemic racism.
How do we teach kids (and their parents and the School Board) about systemic racism engrained in housing zoning – and the Realtor/real-estate driven decisions on school attendance boundaries? Why is Shoreline West neighborhood so afraid of going to Castro neighborhood school? Why is the Gemello neighborhood so afraid of the same? In each instance – Castro is the closest school to these neighborhoods rather than Landels and Bubb. And – don’t mess with Steven Segregation [Economic related to systemic racial/economic disadvantage]?
What if “the system” we lived in had Below Market Rate and Low Income family housing in the Huff attendance zone? (and more than currently exist in Bubb’s)
Gary,
I have been working within the MVWSD district as my children have moved through the district to counter microaggressions, disproportionate discipline for Black and Brown kids, and to update antiquated curricula that looked like it was written by people who embrace the Lost Cause narrative or Islamaphobic curricula that perpetuated stereotypes of Muslims.
Our family does the work, Gary. Each and every day because its vital to our children’s and our friends’ survival in this world. I wouldn’t excuse this behavior in our city as coming from elsewhere–it happened in our community and it is our responsibility to address that.
There are multiple anti-racist programs and resources that I’ve found and shared with the school districts, teachers, PTA, and parents to incorporate into curricula. The one you mentioned is a bit antiquated in its approach. I’d recommend you look at the MVWSD Better Together curricula and then get in contact with other school districts to recommend it be taken up. That’s what I’ve been doing as well as alerting a lot of civically minded groups to this incident and asking for actions to be taken to ensure that anti-racist curricula and training (as well as disciplinary policies) be implemented in school districts that feed into each other that would provide continuity for students throughout their education.
Don’t worry about me, Gary, I’m doing the work. And not being distracted by the election or by thinking it might not even be our community’s problem because it could be someone outside of our community. Have a good day. I recommend you check out Teaching Tolerance and Rethinking Schools to understand the type of curricula that can be implemented to get us closer to equity and justice.
Thanks HAB. I see online that the City Council has a sub-committee on race discrimination and police work. And the city’s Human Relations Commission is also working on it. Already, the police chief made policy changes. You should be thankful that Donald Trump and Mike Pence will likely be replaced in January. Big difference, I suggest. The writings on schools do not reveal much as we have no idea, as I stated, who did it or why. Could have been a civil rights activist seeking attention to the matter.
HAB. Thanks for your work. It doesn’t just take years – or decades (unfortunately). And the Hon. John Lewis showed us – even a lifetime (or a century and a half ?!?!) is not enough when you use “all deliberate speed” as a time-line throttle.
HAB – keep on keeping on/moving on/pushing on. It is uphill – and it is a really really long way we have to go.
Gary:
Please stop minimizing this by saying “we don’t know who it is” or blaming civil rights activists. That’s BS, it’s distraction. And it doesn’t matter–what does matter is the IMPACT of the act, it is racist intimidation of our Black community. You, as a white person (just guessing here, but am I wrong?), minimizing a racist act in our community shows you’re doing nothing to counter it. You saying that Trump and Pence are leaving office and that will make it better shows you’re ignoring the very real people who commit racist acts in our community. Minimizing racist violence is an act of violence in and of itself. Do not tell people it’s not so bad when it means Black families have to talk about safety in our community because of this racist incident.
Well. Here is the thing. If someone wrote on schools to draw attention to racism and seek its end, the writing was no racist attack. Did it nonetheless concern and therefore harm some residents. I suppose. But it has served the larger “good” of raising the issue. Of course, the absence of a written “racist attack” would not mean there are no racists in Mountain View. Nor would it suggest that the odd thinking of others by race does not infect Mountain View. Some people hate or shun or look down on others for various irrational reasons. It is so all across the country – and surely around the world. Can anyone name a country free of racism? Or sexism? HAB. Answer this. What have you done in your entire life to object to the denigration of native Americans – such as by the maintenance of the name “Washington Redskins”? Stanford teams used to be Indians? Anything wrong with that? Let’s take a break from your personal complaint and discuss the plight of native Americans.
Hi Gary–
Just seeing your comment about my involvement in combatting anti-Indigenous mascots, etc. Yeah, I do that too. Your whataboutism isn’t helpful. I’ll keep doing the work it takes to dismantle white supremacy culture and patriarchal structures. Have a lovely 2021.