Asian American Empowerment - High School Cited for Racial Violence

By Bryan Virasami
©2004 Newsday
June 1, 2004

Lafayette High School ignored "pervasive" harassment and numerous cases of racially-motivated violence against Asian students for more than two years, the Justice Department said Tuesday.

In a scathing complaint and a 32-page settlement reached with the city, the Brooklyn school and the city Department of Education, school officials were accused of being "deliberately indifferent" to victims and to pleas from their parents and community leaders.

It was the first time under the Bush Administration that a school was taken to court under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, according to Justice Department officials.

"Not only was the violence extreme and persistent but also clearly racially-motivated," said a Justice Department official who did not want to be named. "And you have a situation where the school authority was being deliberately indifferent to the parents and to the concerns of the violence."

In one incident, a student nearly died from suffocation after being choked from behind in a school shower room, according to the official.

In another case, a student was beaten unconscious by five to six students, kicked and punched before one attacker made a racially-insensitive remark, the official said.

The agreement, announced Tuesday, requires Lafayette to help students with language barriers and take steps to erase a climate of racism and violence. The settlement still needs federal court approval.

The Justice Department launched its investigation into Lafayette in 2002 and began formal negotiations with school officials in Spring 2003.

"A school district cannot stand aside and ignore severe and pervasive racially-motivated harassment of an ethnic or language minority," said R. Alexander Acosta, assistant attorney general for civil rights.

In papers filed in federal court in Brooklyn, the Justice Department named the City, DOE and Lafayette's principal Alan Siegel as defendants.

The court papers cited allegations against Siegel for failing to acknowledge the problems at the school. Lafayette has also been accused by parents of forcing Asian students to graduate early to make school records appear better.

Michael Best, general counsel with the Department of Education, said the school will take steps to prevent harassment and violence and provide training to staff to help students, including having appropriate language instruction.

Steve Chung, president of the United Chinese Association of Brooklyn, who has called attention to the issue, said he was pleased with the settlement.

"I'm extremely happy," he said. "I do believe the school has an attitude problem."