SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Just a week after a hate-filled post on social media aimed at African-Americans who attend Rio Americano High School was discovered, the school has taken steps to rectify the racial tension circulating at the school.
On Monday afternoon, a panel discussion was held in the library at Rio Americano. The purpose of this discussion was to allow students to voice their concerns about the racial climate of the school. Many students didn't feel that the school staff had been responsive to past racial incidents that transpired on campus.
Last week, a post imitating a campus policy circulated online stating that the school was banning Black students effective August 26, 2019. The now-viral post referred to African-American students as monkeys and said that the Klu Klux Klan would be patrolling the hallways "to ensure the white kids learn."
But the post was fake, according to the San Juan Unified School District.
"This post is incredibly hurtful to our school community and our staff has been working diligently since discovering it to investigate," said Rio Americano principal, Brian Ginter.
According to recent data from the California Department of Education, African-American students represent 3.5% of the student population at Rio Americano. The campus is 62.9% white students.
The FBI and Sacramento County Sheriff's Office have since announced their investigations into the incident.
Although media was not allowed in the discussion, the general consensus was that the students were satisfied with the dialogue.
"We felt that our voice was heard. It was really encouraging to me to actually know that they did take this seriously," said Jalen Taylor, a student at the school.
Taylor went on to say that the school has decided to take action. For one, they will have an active Black Student Union chapter on campus. There was a chapter on campus several years ago but it went defunct.
Additionally, there will be weekly meetings between the students and the administration, where students have the opportunity to share their concerns. There will also be more cultural clubs present on campus.
As of now, there are no suspects named in the racially charged incident.
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