Another federal case! Oh my.
Remember December’s spate of stories about mostly black students at South Philadelphia High School (designated “persistently dangerous”) beating up students of Asian descent because they’re of Asian descent? Students and groups complained, and too little was done about it.
Last week, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund filed suit against the school district, alleging “deliberate and discriminatory indifference.” (Source)
The group, citing Fourteenth Amendment violations, claims the district not only failed to protect them, but covered up and downplayed the attacks. Specifically, the group says security guards ignored attacks, and a staffer tried to talk a parent out of calling 911 when her child suffered a broken nose.
Disgusting, if true.
The school district suspended about 10 students, but obviously that wasn’t enough. There were problems before the attack, says the AALDEF, and whatever help officials offered wasn’t effective. Cecilia Chen, an attorney with the AALDEF, said students of Asian descent are still being harassed.
Students of one race attacking students of another based on race is a clear case of a “bias” crime. I think the concept of “hate crime” is dumb, but if we’re going to have such laws on the books, let’s apply them consistently. The local authorities should have bent over backward to resolve the matter and tried everything reasonable possible to avoid a federal lawsuit. For unfathomable reasons, they did not.
Why didn’t the school make a diligent effort to stop the attacks? It’s a loaded question, of course. “Are you still beating your wife?” No doubt the School District of Philadelphia believes it made a diligent effort to stop the attacks. Whether the Department of Justice takes up the case remains to be seen.
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