Fresno students plan school walkout after multiple racist images circulate at Bullard High
THE LATEST: Hundreds of Fresno students walk out of class
Students at Bullard High and other Fresno schools are walking out Friday afternoon in protest of at least four racist incidents that have happened at Bullard recently, according to teachers and student group social media posts.
Black students’ faces have been photoshopped on monkeys, and there have been two social media accounts, depicting violence against Black people and showing some of the most horrific moments for Black Americans throughout history, according to a social media post from Edison’s Black Student Union.
“These are dehumanizing social media posts and pages,” Edison’s Black Student Union said on Instagram. “These posts have not only affected the Bullard Student Body but have traveled to other school sites (including Edison High School) creating an unsafe environment.”
The Fresno Bee will not publish the photos in question due to their racist and violent content.
A photo of a student wearing a white garment resembling a Ku Klux Klan hood is circulating social media and is the latest incident that is causing parents to fear for their students’ safety, community organizer Stacy Williams said.
It’s a pattern, said Williams, who also advocated for Black students when another student posted a video in blackface in 2019.
Fresno Unified School District is investigating but was prioritizing being with students at school sites Friday morning.
Fresno Unified spokesperson Nikki Henry confirmed the investigation.
“Appropriate disciplinary action is being taken for those involved and we are providing extra support for students and staff,” she said. “We’re at school sites with students this morning and prioritizing that.”
The district plans to release a statement later today, Henry said.
The Bullard and Edison campuses have the largest Black student population, Edison women and gender studies teacher Heather Miller said.
“The kids at Bullard have faced repeated, egregiously racist behavior,” she said. “And it seems to correlate to the more the Black student body grows, the more backlash they’re getting from conservative white elements at Bullard.”
Those responsible for the social media accounts and posts have put a lot of time into traumatizing and dehumanizing Black students and their families, Williams said.
When the school or district responds by saying those incidents are not racist, it becomes traumatizing too, she said.
“These kids feel like they should have protection at a public school,” Williams said. “And the school district and staff at Bullard are not producing that environment by their response, dismissive tone, ignoring what racism is and acting as if kids will be kids.”
Parents are hurt and angry and left saying, “not again,” Williams said..
Williams said parents she’s spoken with want to see the Bullard student expelled or suspended, but fear the district will put up what she described as “shields of protection… to allow him to be safe in his racism.”
This story was originally published May 6, 2022 at 11:07 AM.
