Asian American Empowerment - Horseplay or Assault at Ithaca High?

By Anne Ju
©2004 The Ithaca Journal
June 5, 2004

ITHACA -- Three months ago, an Ithaca High School student was airlifted by helicopter to Robert Packer Hospital, Sayre, Pa., after what Ithaca Police Chief Victor Loo characterized as "mutual horseplay" between male students.

The airlifted student, Thong Nguyen (pronounced "Tong Noo-yen"), was not badly hurt enough to require more than a few hours at the Sayre hospital, according to an Ithaca Police Department report.

While he insists he was attacked, the other male students maintained otherwise, saying the fight was accidental, according to their statements to Ithaca Police.

Ninety days, an out-of-school suspension and a $20,000 medical bill later, Nguyen, now 21, is not back in school. That's his choice.

While in New York state, 21-year-olds are no longer eligible to attend public school, Ithaca schools superintendent Judith Pastel said the school would've made arrangements to have Nguyen finish out the year.

But Nguyen decided to drop out of school. In an interview with The Journal, translated by his uncle Jeffery Nguyen because of the younger man's language barrier, Thong Nguyen said he fears a future encounter with the two students with whom he scuffled March 1.

"Thong is nervous to go to school and very nervous about getting deported," Jeffery Nguyen added later in an e-mail. "It is not fair for him, but I don't know how to help him out because of his immigrant status."

Thong Nguyen is a native of Vietnam, here under Green Card status with his father, Trung Nguyen, and his younger brother Kan. That permanent resident status puts Nguyen a step away from full citizenship.

Trung Nguyen immigrated to Ithaca in 2000 and works in the bindery at Wilcox Press. His English is limited, too. His brother, Jeffery Nguyen, said Trung Nguyen is also facing hefty medical bills as a result of the fight.

Without a primary health insurance provider, the total bill for Thong Nguyen's medical services came to about $20,000. This includes an $11,000 bill for the helicopter, and various other expenses for x-rays at Cayuga Medical Center and physician services at Robert Packer.

Trung Nguyen has filed a claim with Pupil Benefits Plan Inc., the school district health insurance plan that provides some coverage for students who are injured during school-sponsored activities.

According to paperwork he filed with Pupil Benefits, Trung Nguyen will try to get 80 percent of the $20,000 bill covered, minus a $100 deductible, under the plan's catastrophic benefits.

But even if Thong Nguyen's case makes him eligible for this coverage, it leaves the family owing about $4,000, which his father cannot afford to pay, according to Jeffery Nguyen.

"It causes my brother a big stress," Jeffery Nguyen said of the medical bills.

Through a translation by his uncle, Thong Nguyen said he would like to continue learning English, or continue his technical studies at Tompkins-Seneca-Tioga Board of Cooperative Educational Services by enrolling as an adult student. But for the time being, he is sitting at home, "doing nothing," he said.

Police report

In the statement Nguyen gave to Ithaca Police on March 1 after the fight, he claimed to be walking down the school hallway at about noon when he and another student bumped into each other. After the male student punched Nguyen in the arm, Nguyen claimed he took off his belt in an attempt to tie the student's hands.

Nguyen claimed he was hit in the head several times, his legs were pulled out from under him, and the other student and a friend began to stomp him.

The two students, whose names were withheld from the police report, had a very different story to tell.

The first student stated he and his friend were "playing around," and that he pushed into Nguyen "accidentally."

"I was surprised because he was reacting strongly to our horseplay," the student told police. At that point, he stated that Nguyen "took his belt off and started swinging the metal end at us."

The student giving the statement said his companion took off his own belt "and by the time that happened, it was too late, the Chinese kid had already hit him in the back with the belt."

The statement continued: "the kid turned around and looked at me and started walking toward me. He swung the belt and I ducked it and punched him in the face. Then (the other student) grabbed (Nguyen) and picked him up, then he slammed him into the floor."

The student's father, who did not show up to a scheduled interview at The Journal Thursday, said his son was suspended for a week after this incident, and that he had a previous disciplinary record that included fighting at school and noncompliance with school regulations.

He declined to comment further, saying, "I've said everything I had to say to (Superintendent) Judy Pastel."

The friend of the student who allegedly fought Thong Nguyen declined to comment.

The fight between Nguyen and the two students at IHS happened weeks before another fight took place March 23, between African-American and white male students.

Though no evidence of racial motivation behind the fight with Thong Nguyen could be gleaned from the police report, there are people who question whether the fight happened because of cultural differences.

Larry Shinagawa, director of the Center for the Study of Culture, Race and Ethnicity at Ithaca College, said the misfortune of Thong Nguyen's reluctance to re-enter school touches on an important cultural issue.

The fact that Nguyen is from Vietnam and has limited ability to speak English, and that the two other students involved were African-American, does have relevance to how the school should respond, Shinagawa said.

He and fellow members of the local Ithaca Asian American Association are trying to push for more diversity awareness. The responsibility the Ithaca City School District has to righting a situation like this is "utmost," he said.

"Any campus must create a diverse and welcoming school environment to enhancing teaching and learning that's free of prejudice and fear," Shinagawa said. That includes keeping someone like Thong Nguyen from walking away from this experience believing all African-American boys are violent, Shinagawa said.

Members of the Village at Ithaca, an advocacy group for primarily black and Latino students, learned of the situation and had similar concerns, according to Eldred Harris, a Village at Ithaca steering committee member. But he admitted that few people know all the facts regarding this incident.

"We don't know what the deal is here," Harris said. "If something culturally is behind this, that's really not good."

He added that no matter what the impetus was behind this incident or who started it, the level of violence was unacceptable on school grounds.

"Black violence against a Southeast Asian student is unacceptable, as is white against black or black against Hispanic," Harris said.

Pastel said she wants to keep conversations about race inclusive of all ethnicities, not just black and white.

"There are racial tensions between blacks and Asians with Asians being afraid of blacks," Pastel said. "That has been a part of the dialogue we've had. It's not a narrow thing, where the only conflict is between black and white students."

Legal grounds

After the incident, Jeffery Nguyen contacted Hoang Huy Tu, an immigration lawyer with a private practice in California, for advice on his brother's financial quandary and his nephew's grounds for legal action.

Tu, who is also of Vietnamese descent, said he agreed to advise the Nguyen family and to possibly take them on as clients, if he could find local lawyers in New York willing to collaborate with him.

Thong Nguyen has said he fears facing deportation if charges are pressed against him by the other two students for assault with a deadly weapon -- his belt --which, according to the police statement, Nguyen had swung at the two students.

"If you are convicted of a felony or aggravated felony, or if you are incarcerated for a year or more and you are a permanent resident with a Green Card, you can be deported under the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform (and Immigration Responsibility) Act." Tu said.

But if Nguyen's use of the belt was "clearly self-defense," then he could have grounds to either sue the two other students in small claims court, or to sue the school for negligence. Tu said that is his sense, although since he hasn't reviewed all the facts, he can't say for sure.

"I don't know how negligent the school was," Tu said. "Were there enough security guards? Could they have responded quicker? These are all factors and I would have to go over the facts and details."

The school could also be found guilty of negligence if one of Nguyen's alleged attackers had a previous discipline record that the school knew about, Tu said.

Pastel said she declined to comment further because of liability concerns.