Schools

Seaholm Suspends Student Behind Racist Graffiti, More Incidents Reported

Birmingham schools officials and police talk to parents Wednesday night, vowing to have an extra presence at the school Thursday after graffiti discovered Friday mentioned "May 12."

The student who admitted being behind the first bout of racist graffiti at has been suspended, but there are still many unanswered questions as similar incidents continue to occur at the Birmingham school.

School district and Birmingham Police Department officials met with parents in a closed-door meeting Wednesday night to address what is now six incidents of racism at the school.

will step up its presence at the school Thursday after more graffiti was discovered in a boys bathroom last Friday reading “May 12” preceding “n------ ruin seaholm.”

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“There was no threat stated or implied,” Principal Terry Piper said in an email message sent to parents Wednesday. “However I realize that whenever a date is written, it raises concerns.”

In the same email, Piper also informed parents that more graffiti was discovered in a boys restroom Wednesday, though the school did not release what was written in that message.

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“The situation causes all of us to be angry, frustrated and sad at the same time,” said Piper, who is retiring at the end of this year after 13 years as Seaholm’s principal. “But rest assured that your children’s safety is our primary concern. We are doing everything possible to determine the student or students responsible.”

At the meeting, which was closed to the media, parents signed up to spend Thursday monitoring the school in shifts. In addition, Piper announced the school has started a tip line — 248-203-3737 — so students and parents can provide information on the incidents anonymously.

Several parents, who asked not to be named, said they were angry because the incidents have upset their students and left them scared.

Student faces serious charges

All information and evidence has so far been turned over the police, Community Relations Director Marcia Wilkinson said. She said the suspended student admitted to just the first incident on April 20, and administrators aren't sure if the student is connected to the five other incidents, including several racial slurs written on bathroom walls and sent as notes to African-American students and a teacher.

Wilkinson said racism isn't usually a problem at Seaholm or other Birmingham schools. She noted there was a rash of high school students using racist language a few years ago, but that things had died down since.

Seaholm has 60 African-American students enrolled for the 2011-12 school year, according to data from the schools' pupil accounting system. With 1,249 students at the school, African Americans make up 4.8 percent of the student population. At , African Americans make up 22 percent of the student population.

Wilkinson said the student, who admitted to the incident after being brought in by his parents, has been suspended until the matter can go before the school board. Police are compiling a case and will turn over evidence to the Oakland County prosecutor by the end of the week, according to Deputy Police Chief Mark Clemence, who also spoke at the program Wednesday. At that point, it will be up to the prosecutor to decide the charges.

What the student could be facing, Clemence said, is a violation of the ethnic intimidation law, in which a person is guilty of ethnic intimidation if he or she “maliciously, and with specific intent to intimidate or harass another person because of that person’s race, color, religion, gender or national origin.” Because the first incident involved graffiti that named five African-American students and mentioned lynching, the ethnic intimidation law is relevant, Clemence said.

For some at the meeting, the police response hasn’t been good enough. Natasha Fuller has a sibling who attends Seaholm and wasn’t happy, noting that if an African- American person had threatened a white student, things would be different. “If it was the other way around, they would treat it to the full extent,” she said.

A community responds

Wednesday's parent meeting was the second in a couple of weeks. The school discovered the April 20. The following day, was found in the mailbox of an African-American teacher.

After calling a special meeting for parents April 26, Piper then confirmed that two more anonymous notes were discovered inside the lockers of two African-American students April 26 and April 27.

The school held a , during which members of Birmingham Voice, a student group devoted to dissolving racial tensions, urged their classmates to stand up against racism and bigotry.

“It’s no longer OK to ignorantly disrespect someone because their race. And it’s especially not OK to watch this happen,” junior Sam Corey said at the assembly.

A featured speaker at Wednesday's parent meeting was Jamie Brooks, president of Birmingham’s African American Family Network. He said he hadn’t spoken with many of the students directly impacted by the racial slurs, but said his organization is available for African-American parents who need somewhere to reach out.

Brooks is happy to see the parents and students organizing, noting this isn’t just an African-American issue. “(Parents and students) are saying, ‘This is our school. Something’s going on we don’t like. Let’s do something about it.’”

Brooks said he’s also been encouraged by the Birmingham administration throughout this ordeal, noting that they’ve listened to parents since the first meeting and are addressing their concerns.

“At first they didn’t get the emotions that the parents were feeling, but now they do,” he said. “We’ve really got some momentum going.”

The students are trying to help, too. Friday evening, the school’s Diversity Club held a at the football field, where students could share how they felt about recent events.

“It has made me feel really disappointed and also enlightened,” said junior Erin Brown, co-vice president of Seaholm's Diversity Club, the group that organized the vigil. “It is a minority, and I’m glad there is a positive majority because we need students to unite as one — we will not stand for this.”

This week, Seaholm’s Diversity Club is also handing out buttons in exchange for pledges from the student body promising not to use offensive language and speak out when they hear it.

If you know something about the incidents at Seaholm that can help the police or school administrators, call the Seaholm tip line at 248-203-3737.


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