The Seaholm community is asking questions after a string of racial incidents that began Wednesday, April 20 and continued through the week of April 24.
Seaholm administrators and Birmingham Police are investigating four different events each appearing to be racially motivated.
Boys Bathroom Graffiti: April 20
“These N****** need to be lynched.” Written on the bathroom wall, these six words triggered string of racial bullying that occurred throughout Seaholm in the weeks of April 17 and 24.
Midday on Wednesday, April 20, a student stumbled upon a threatening racial message on a boy’s bathroom stall. The student immediately brought it to the attention of Assistant Principal Deb Boyer, who then notified Principal Terry Piper. Together they contacted Birmingham Police Liaison Al Smith. A police report was filed.
Smith declined comment.
“This is Seaholm’s dirty little secret coming out,” one parent who asked not to be identified said at a meeting held by the PTSA and African-American Family Network on Tuesday, April 26.
The Highlander filed a Freedom of Information Act to get the original police report, but the request was denied.
Along with the threatening graffiti, five male African American students were listed on the wall. Four out of the five targeted students were called down to Piper’s office to discuss the incident at hand. Piper contacted the fifth student later in the day as the student was giving a presentation at the time of the original meeting.
“Piper tried to do the best he could,” one of the students targeted said. “So I respect him for that.”
Alongside Smith and Assistant Principal Staci Peterson, Boyer and Piper set out to catch the student or students responsible. With the handwritten message their only link to the perpetrator or perpetrators they had no choice but to turn to handwriting samples to try to find the person or persons behind the act.
“We might be able to compare handwriting,” Piper said on April 21. “We are taking a look at that.”
As for the consequences of the bathroom graffiti, Piper said anyone caught will face suspension and potentially be charged by the police with a hate crime.
“There would be a suspension,” Piper said on April 21. “We would have to determine the length, but there would definitely be a suspension.”
Teacher Note: April 21
“You’re not wanted here.” On Thursday, April 21, the administration was notified of another offense. A Seaholm teacher received a note describing her as an “unwanted N******.” According to Piper, the teacher’s first reaction was to throw the note away and brush it off as nothing. The teacher notified her department head later in the day. The department head then brought it to the attention of Piper, who didn’t take the threat lightly.
“We don’t want a [Seaholm teacher] feeling like they have to go to Groves,” Piper said.
Student Note #1: April 26
“You may be a house n***** but you’re still an n***** and you should go back to where you came from.”
On Tuesday, April 26 junior Essence Biggs was the seventh target in what had quickly become a series of racial bullying attacks.
Biggs found the handwritten note inside her shared school locker, sitting, unnoticeably, on the top shelf. When Biggs picked up the piece of paper that she had figured was nothing more than garbage, she was shocked to discover the racial note written inside.
“That threw me for a loop,” Biggs said. “I don’t know where it came from. I don’t know how they got it in my locker.”
Biggs spoke at the PTSA meeting on Tuesday, April 26, as well as at the student led assembly Monday, May 2.
“I will not be a victim,” Biggs said at the assembly.
During the PTSA meeting, parents asked Piper what consequences anyone caught would face. According to Piper, the student or students responsible would be suspended for ten days, the maximum amount of time a principal can suspend any one person.
Parents and students were still not satisfied. “I think they should change the guidelines and rules, because kids get away with a lot of things,” an African-American student listed on the bathroom wall said. “A suspension for them is probably like a weeklong break.”
Parents at the PTSA meeting were more concerned about the safety issue. A few parents said they don’t want their children to be forced to spend seven hours a day with students who think it’s okay to threaten a person based on their race.
“I think he needs some psychological counseling,” the parent of one student whose name was listed on the wall said. “I think his parents need some family counseling. I’m a former police officer. I don’t think locking people up is teaching anything. It just makes them worse people.”
Student Note #2: April 27
“Kill yourself, hang yourself n*****” Mid-day on Wednesday, April 27 yet another note was found in an African-American student’s locker. Unlike before, the note was typed.
Piper spent hours with the student targeted and the student’s parents, discussing the issue and possible solutions. The student’s parents feel that while Piper is doing the right thing, the rest of the administration is not.
“I think that Piper is handling it well,” one parent said. “I don’t know that [every administrator] has a firm grip on reality.”
As the days ticked by and more incidents kept happening, the investigation intensified. Piper and the police started looking into fingerprinting.
Girls Bathroom Graffiti: April 27.
“Haters, I may be a b****, I may be a fa**ot, I may be a whitey. But I’m something that you’ll never be.”
These words are in the chorus of Marilyn Manson’s song, “Better of Two Evils” and were found scrawled on the wall of the girl’s bathroom located in the lower G hall, Wednesday, April 27.
The note had no direct racial comments and Piper currently doesn’t know the intention of the graffiti, or if there’s a direct connection to the other events.
“It was almost a cry for help,” Piper said.
Desk Graffiti: April 27
On Wednesday, April 27 an investigation began on another racial graffiti incident. Two students reported a peer drawing what seemed, to them, to be a weapon on the desk and that pointed to the only African-American student in the class.
The incident is still being investigated. “Mrs. Boyer’s investigating that, but she’s got different versions of what took place,” Piper said. “Which is kind of problematic as you investigate.”
Student Reactions: May 1-6
Students at Seaholm immediately responded to these events by planning a student-run assembly, a widespread anti-racism campaign and a Candlelight Vigil Mindset Movement set to be on May 6.
“It is a teachable moment,” BPS superintendent David Larson said at the parent meeting on Tuesday, April 26. “As staff, students and parents model what is the right thing to do.”
