Sacramento schools speak out on protests, killing of George Floyd — some posts upset students

Some Sacramento-area schools are struggling to find the right way to respond to the killing of George Floyd and the nationwide protests borne from his death, and students are letting them know their statements are not enough.

Much of the criticism was aimed at the capital region’s private Catholic schools, which shared posts on social media condemning racism. The posts were quickly met with push back from students who say they’ve experienced discrimination while attending the Catholic-run schools.

A St. Francis High School Instagram post showing support for students of color garnered more than 1,000 responses, many of which were accounts of negative experiences at the East Sacramento campus.

Some of the students and alumni accused the school of deleting disparaging comments that cast the high school in a negative light. The school stated on their Instagram page that it deleted comments that identified students and teachers by name.

“Deleting the comments is like silencing them,” said Brooke Uhlenhop, 22, a St. Francis alumna. “You need to hold people accountable.”

Allesse Patterson, an 18-year-old St. Francis graduate who is black, said she felt troubled by what she described as “shallow words” from her alma mater.

“I think it’s important for them to address the issues they’ve ignored for so long,” Patterson told The Sacramento Bee.

Patterson recounted how teachers dismissed her anxiety after Stephon Clark was shot and killed by Sacramento police, and when school officials nearly withheld her diploma because she wore a kente cloth at graduation.

“Me and countless others have come to present problem after problem with racist teachers and students, microaggressions, racial insensitivity and time and time again you ignored us or pushed us aside,” she wrote. “Actions speak louder than the lousy words you copied and pasted from the Church’s website.”

Bishop Jaime Soto, head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento, said he read the comments from students, alumnae and community members, and he encouraged leaders at St. Francis to do the same.

“It is very painful to hear so many personal accounts from students of color who feel they have not been as supported, valued or protected as they should have been,” he said. “I applaud the bravery of every young woman who told her story on this forum, and who continues to live out the Christian ideal of confronting what she believes needs to be seen, heard and fixed.”

The posts sparked some activism. Two alumni, Martina Penalosa and Ana Macaspac, started a petition to demand change, including sensitivity training for teachers and promoting an environment of inclusion and diversity.

Both Jesuit High School and Christian Brothers High School also released statements that received pushback online. Christian Brothers, which made news after former principal Chris Orr stated his firing was racially motivated, released a statement on Wednesday which prompted criticism on Facebook. Orr sued Christian Brothers after he was fired.

“The world watched in horror as George Floyd’s life was brutally taken at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota,” the statement read in part. “Since then, we have watched our city, our country, and our world react to this tragedy with emotions ranging from prayerful sorrow to deep-seeded anger. We have seen transformative acts of love and compassion juxtaposed against horrific acts of violence. We stand with our global Lasallian Catholic community in praying for Mr. Floyd, his family, and his loved ones, as we pray for the victims of racial injustice and violence everywhere.”

But several students took to Facebook to criticize that the statement didn’t mention black lives, and that it was too vague.

“CB you can do wayyyyy better,” read a comment from Natalie McElvy. “Too generalized, be specific. This moment is an opportunity to encourage Black students to feel safe and valued within the CB community again. You have a lot of trust to build with your Black students after this past year. Stop brushing it off.”

McElvy suggested the school create a forum for African American students, parents, faculty and staff to “voice concerns and ideas to move forward and allow CB to actually be ‘The Place to Be’ for Black students.”

While some schools were criticized for tone-deaf statements, some students and community members pointed out that school districts that released statements have more work to do in supporting black children.

Beth Solomon, who attends Rio Americano High School, said schools need to do more to condemn racism and support black students, particularly because the school largely serves a white population. More than 60 percent of the student body is white, and three percent is black, according to the state Department of Education.

“With everything going on, I can imagine that black students and students of color are struggling to focus on schoolwork. There’s a lot Rio could have and should do, but I have to say I’m not surprised by the silence.”

The campus in Arden Arcade is in the San Juan Unified School District. The district superintendent, Kent Kern, did release a statement after the killing of George Floyd and said the district plans to hold listening sessions with students and staff to share how recent events have affected them.

Schools that serve more diverse student populations were credited for taking more direct action.

At Bridgeway Island Elementary School in West Sacramento, Principal Evelyn Baffico sent an automated message to all families to engage with their children about what is happening in the nation.

The school serves a student population that is 60 percent non-white — 5 percent of the school’s total enrollment is black.

Lorreen Pryor, president of the Black Youth Leadership Project, attends school board meetings across the region regularly. She was critical that only one Folsom Cordova Unified School District board member, Chris Clark who is black, released a statement about George Floyd and racism.

“I also would like to acknowledge the pain and concern this causes to our communities of Folsom and Rancho Cordova. It hurts us all,” Clark wrote on Monday. “What has been taking place is oppression of the very worst kind. I firmly believe that the first step combating it is being vocal about opposing it.”

Clark told The Bee he was disappointed other board members didn’t release similar statements. Folsom Cordova Unified released a districtwide statement on Wednesday.

“Compassion should be the very cornerstone of any system dealing with children,” said Pryor. “If one group of your population you represent is hurting, you should have the ability to stand with them and say you see their hurt and pain.”

Other school districts released statements this week, including Sacramento City Unified and Elk Grove Unified.

“Almost every day our black community is retraumatized by another name being added to a heartbreaking list of racist killings,” said Jessie Ryan, Sacramento City Unified board president. “Now, amidst the COVID crisis, many of our young black boys and girls are being forced to process this pain in isolation. It is almost too much to bear.”

In a statement updated community members, Elk Grove Superintendent Chris Hoffman acknowledged that coronavirus had caused fear in the community but that George Floyd was killed by another disease.

“We must continue to unite against hate and racism, resolute in our past efforts and inspired to renew and ignite continued efforts to create a more equitable society for our children,” he said.

Los Rios Community College District’s chancellor and its four school presidents — at Sacramento City, Cosumnes River, American River and Folsom Lake — put out a joint statement calling George Floyd’s death “tragic and senseless.”

“We stand with all of our students, faculty and staff who are furious that this continues to happen,” the group said. “It is our responsibility, both personally and collectively, to stand up and speak out on behalf of change.”

In contrast Alvin Cheung, president of California Northstate University, a private school with campuses in Elk Grove that trains doctors, pharmacists and psychologists said that the school will enact a policy of neutrality.

“It is expressly understood that all CNU employees and students have rights as private citizens to act according to their conscience and within the confines of the law,” Cheung said in a statement. “At the same time, students attending CNU should feel secure that they will be able to pursue and complete their health care professional education program without distractions from their educational and professional purposes.”

This story was originally published June 4, 2020 at 2:41 PM.