Yeah, that arae is getting pretty bad..
check this out
'Student riots reflect problems of city'
Social clashes blamed for brawls
By LOLITA HARPER, STAFF WRITER
RIALTO - The new Wilmer Amina Carter High School never intended to teach the subject of racism.
The state-of-the-art high school that graces the community activists name was founded to embody her principles of family-oriented education and cultural integration. It has quietly done so for the majority of its first three months, but race-related brawls Friday and Tuesday suddenly overshadowed its daily successes
The fights erupted at Carter High during the lunch periods Friday and Tuesday, each causing campus security officials to use pepper spray to break up the melee. Tuesdays fight involved dozens of students and left 47 boys and girls with minor injuries. Fridays fight involved eight students, with more than 100 spectators, Rialto Unified School District officials said.
In each incident, sides were divided between blacks and Latinos. Officials have not determined the cause of the fights, but they reportedly started over a pair of stolen shoes. The first fight Friday began between two Latino boys, but somehow escalated into a race-related incident.
Wilmer Amina Carter said Wednesday that she was disappointed in the students conduct, especially after learning that prejudices partially fueled the fight.
I was always appalled that people were racist and they dont even know why, Carter said. If you ask them, I bet none of them can tell you why. It is a mystery. And one we will have to unlock so we can be models for the students not only at Carter but for all the students at the other high schools.
We cant put our heads in the sand and say that race is not a problem, Carter said.
Carter said she didnt learn about racism until she moved to California. When she was a young girl in the South, she lived on her grandfathers farm in an all-black, rural neighborhood and attended an all-black school.
I didnt have anyone to be racist against me because we were all the same, Carter said.
While racism may not have been a concern for administrators when planning the high school, demographics were.
When drawing school boundaries, school districts try to maintain a balance of the number of students and their demographics, said Rialto Unified Board Member Walter S. Hawkins. Trustees try to make sure (they are) not creating islands by separating economic, racial or other social groups, Hawkins said.
Youths are acting out problems that exist in the city as a whole, Hawkins said. It is not a problem exclusive to Carter High School.
The schools are part of the community, Hawkins said. Whatevers happening in the community is going to be happening in the school. We have to look at it in the broader context.
The majority 51.2 percent of Rialto is Latino, the 2000 Census shows. Blacks follow with 22.3 percent and whites make up 21.5 percent. A breakdown of demographics at Carter High School was not available Wednesday.
It was during the 1990s that the citys population boomed along with its Latino population. Rialto grew from 72,388 in 1990 to 91,873 in 2000. In that time period, the Latino population more than doubled, while the white population was halved from 44 percent to
21.5 percent.
In 2000, Rialto had a larger population of blacks than any other Inland Empire city and was the only city where whites represented the third-largest population.
Children between the ages of 10 and 19 make up 20.3 percent of the population, the census shows. Those ages are either in or near high school, making them the largest block in the city.
While race was a factor in the violence at Carter High, parents and community members caution that it cannot be blown out of proportion. These are children, after all, who do not always realize the consequences of their actions, they said.
These issues are also not isolated to Carter High. Last school year, similar race- and gang-related fights broke out in Bloomington, Fontana, Rancho Cucamonga and Rialto schools.
With teenagers, it could also just be a whim, Carter said.
Instead of analyzing the problems that may cause a confrontation, teenagers may be apt to jump in and join sides, she said. In this case, and others, the easiest way to choose was based on skin color, she said. But that does not necessarily make it a racial altercation, she said.
It is important that we get into their minds and try to think about what they were thinking, Carter said. We should not be trying to make plans above their heads.
Principal Raymond Johnson and district officials have worked diligently to determine the cause of the fight, the students directly involved and solutions to the conflicts. School officials will hold parent-only meetings at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. today in the schools outdoor amphitheater.
Parent Michael Penn said he is confident that Carter High can rise to its expectations as a model school not only for academics, technology and athletics, but for social elements as well.
Penn said he felt badly for Johnson because he is an exemplary educator. The fights are unfortunate and must frustrate those who have been trying so hard to make Carter a flagship school, he said.
We were hoping this school would set a precedent and be far and above the other schools, Penn said. I think its still possible; we just need to work out the kinks big kinks.
http://www.dailybulletin.com/Stories/0,1413,203~21481~2601132,00.html
