MARBLEHEAD — A day after more than 100 students protested what they considered a lack of response from the school’s administration to racially motivated incidents, the superintendent vowed to give them a voice.
When the clock struck noon on Thursday, schoolmates stood in solidarity outside Marblehead High School, holding signs and speaking about the importance of paying attention to racial injustices within the walls of the building.
“We did this for people to understand that the administration needs to do more about this and the kids should be more educated that that word is not supposed to be used,” said Lany Marte, a 15-year-old student who helped organize the protest. “We’re going to be with each other for four years and by saying that word and spreading hate around the school, it’s not good.”
Superintendent Maryann Perry said in a statement Friday afternoon that in light of Thursday’s events, “we continue to move forward as an agent of change in our community.
“As a result of ongoing conversations that have been occurring, including discussions with students and staff that took place today, we will be working closely with Team-Harmony and other school organizations to develop forums, trainings, and events in which we give a voice to our students. The hope is that in working together, we will build a community that celebrates diversity and stands up against hate.”
Marte said a student called her friend by a racial slur while he was standing outside the school after basketball tryouts.
“My friend was black and the other kids were white,” said Marte. “He said that when the kid confessed, he didn’t think it was a big deal. We brought this to the school and the district, and all they did was give him a one-day, in-school suspension. We wanted them to do more.”
The victim was allegedly later violently threatened and called the derogatory term again, said Marte. Last year, another student, who is black, threatened to fight someone and was punished with a week-long suspension, she said.
But while the protest was sparked by a specific event, the racial profiling is not an isolated incident, Marte said.
Thursday morning, Principal Dan Bauer read a statement to students telling them that the administration has to act and respond to situations in a way that ensures the privacy of all students.
“At times, that may be difficult to understand, but please know that we hear you and we appreciate you and the passion that you have,” he said in the statement, which was emailed to The Item on Friday. “With that being said, I want to be clear that MHS has zero tolerance for all forms of hate speech directed at any group of people, no matter how it is used or what the intention is.
“It is our goal to build a community where students feel safe and where all students feel they have a voice and that voice is heard. As we continue to build together, we need to address issues when they are brought to our attention, we need to have difficult conversations, and we need to support each other as we grow. It’s not always easy, but adversity builds strength,” said Bauer.
When the handful of students who organized the event saw crowds pouring from the building in their support, Marte said many were brought to tears.
“It showed how much they actually supported us on this,” she said. “Most people cried. It’s really important. We shouldn’t be treated this way. We’re not different.”
As some students made speeches, others held up signs that read “We all bleed the same blood,” “Laundry is the only thing that should be sorted by color,” and “the administration should have done more.”
Sophia Spungin, 16, said she hasn’t been directly affected by the issues these students are facing but she felt it was important to participate in the walk-out to help build a better sense of community.
“There have been some incidents of racial injustices at our school and people have been feeling that the administration isn’t doing enough,” said Spungin, a junior. “The main idea was to bring the community together and show that if we all stand together, we can get the school to see that these issues need to be addressed.”