A Noose in the Locker Room: Racism Inside and Outside of the Santa Monica High School

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A Noose in the Locker Room:

Racism Inside and Outside of the Santa Monica High School

by David J. Leonard

It was likely just another day for a Santa Monica High (CA) student when he headed to wrestling practice. Entering the locker room, things were anything but “normal.” A noose was inside the room nearby a wrestling practice dummy (the specifics are unclear based on current reporting). When an African American wrestler entered the room, he was then accosted by two teammates. According to a report from the  Santa Monica Daily Press, “One grabbed him in what” was “described as a ‘bear hug,’ while the other slipped a lock through his belt loop and connected it to a nearby locker.” As they left the room, with the boy still attached to the locker, they shouted, “slave for sale.”

The noose, the reference to the boy as a “slave for sale” and the attack on the African American student did little to set off alarm bells from the school administration beyond damage control. According to the above newspaper account, they failed to notify the boy’s mother even while they contacted other parents connected to the wrestling team. Seemingly unconcerned about the impact of this attack on the boy, his family and the larger community of students of color at Santa Monica High School, their efforts appeared to be directed at helping (rather than punishing) and protecting the students who perpetrated these shameful acts. Some reported that at the request from school officials, pictures of the noose, for example, were erased from several student cell phones.

Disgusting, shameful, and yet another reminder of the illusion of a post-racial America, this instance is a telling reminder of the continuity of racism within twenty-first century America. The history of slavery, lynching, and racial violence stares us in the face. Yet, for some this instance tells us little about current racism. Despite the seriousness of the situation, it has received next to no media attention. In a city (Santa Monica and Los Angeles) where media has almost fixated on black-Latino tensions amongst students, it is revealing how small the media spotlight has been. Moreover, in wake of the tensions, communal problems, and the injustice directed at the Jena 6, it is troubling, to say the least, to see a school district take such a blaze approach to this hate crime (only after heightened pressure did the school district expand its response). Instead, there seems to be an attitude of confinement, an effort to isolate this incident as an aberration. Whether blaming it on athlete culture, male horseplay, or simply depicting the kids as “bad apples” who made a mistake, a portion of the reaction leaves one believing that this an isolated problem rather than symptomatic of a larger climate problem.

Tim Cuneo, the school’s outgoing superintendent,  offered the predicable rhetoric about the school’s commitment “diversity” and promoting “a positive environment.” Yet, the  rhetorical references to “horseplay,” “bullying,” and “harassment” with “racial overtones” leaves one wondering if the school does not have the historic understanding of racial violence – the historic meaning of the noose as an instrument of racialized terror. At the same time, the focus on the individual participants and the treatment of the incident as isolated erases the bigger issues here.

One has to look no further than the comment section on  Santa Monica Daily Press report to understand the larger issues in place. In an effort to counteract the narrative that depicts Santa Monica as a racial utopia where a couple kids made poor decisions, comments continually reference the immense double standards in the treatment of students of color and white students, tracking, and the differential levels of privilege and power afforded to students. One post makes this clear

Now I'm not at all condoning what happened back in 2006, but it's interesting to see the different reactions when the perpetrators are White and not another minority. The incident is swept under the rug and the students are let off with a slap on the wrist. Those two students should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. There is NO reason why they should still be allowed to attend SAMOHI classes. We, the Black and Latino community of Santa Monica, are used to this second class citizen treatment by the SMMUSD and the city. The school district, the police department, and the city tried their hardest to eliminate the one member of the school board that stands up for our interests and works tirelessly to prevent incidents such as this.

Another comment also speaks to the broader issues in play and the treatment of students of color as 2nd class citizens, especially in comparison to white students who reap privilege each and every day:

Let's talk about what's really going on at Samohi, how about the Cambridge 3, 3 white girls get caught drinking and the board re-writes the no tolerance rule for them and they are allowed to participate in all senior activities. If a white parent screams about a cell phone that's been taken by a teacher 4 times because their child talks or text message in class the phone is given back no consequence. We get it rules only apply to students of color.

These powerful comments speak not only to the anger about this particular hate crime, but the systemic racism within the Santa Monica School District. A 2010 report from  the Santa Monica Daily Press found that “minority students in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District continued to account for a disproportionate percentage of suspensions.” For example, at John Adams Middle School African Americans constituted 11 percent of the study body, but accounted for 25 percent of suspensions; Latinos were 52 percent of the school’s population yet 64 percent of those suspended. Compare these numbers of whites, who represented 34 percent of school’s student body, but only 11 percent of those suspended. Oscar de la Torre, a member of the School Board, described the report as evidence of the continued relevance of institutional racism. It shows yet again how “race and ethnicity are factors in the degree of punishment and also the degree of consequences for the same infractions.” 

The noose, and the attack on this student are two more examples of the persistence of institutional racism. Likewise, the inequality in terms of access to advanced placement classes is another example of the persistence of racism at a structural level. A 2007 report from the  Santa Monica Daily Press highlighted disparities between black and Latino students and white students in both enrollment and proficiency in advanced placement courses. As such, the horrific treatment of this student is not only a symptom of a larger issue at the high school, in the District, and within the community, but an outgrowth of a culture that empowers white students all while treating students of color as second-class citizens. 

While some have argued that this should have been a teachable for the students involved, teaching should never come at the expense of the others. It can be a moment of clarity, where we see the broader problems here and throughout the country. Santa Monica High is not alone here as all of these issues are national problems. Teaching Tolerance found that each and every year, 1:4 students reported falling victim to racial or ethnic mistreatment; same study found that 70% of female students have experienced sexual harassment with 75% of gay students reporting anti-gay slurs and treatment.

Racial bias and discrimination is equally evident in the application of suspension policies.  A study of New York schools found that while black children represent one-third of students, they account for over 50% of those suspended. “A national survey of high school students found that the number of students reporting the presence of security guards and/r police officers in schools increased from 54 percent in 1999 to 70 percent in 2003” (Sullivan 2007, p. 7).  According to a study by the  Applied Research Center (Oakland, California), black students have disproportionately endured the impact of zero tolerance policies. The study “reported higher than expected rates of suspension and expulsion for black students in all 15 major American cities studied” (Skiba 2000, p. 12). Even though white youth are more likely have used cocaine (7 times), heroin (7 times) and methamphetamine (6 times); even though white youth ages 12-17 are more likely to have sold drugs; even though white students are far more likely to whites to bring a weapon to school; blacks students face the daily repercussion in the suspension-schooling complex  (Wise 2000). 

In thinking about the varied treatment experienced by today’s students -- to suspend or not (eventually the two boys were suspended in this case); to call the police or not (only after the boy filed a complaint  did the police begin an investigation ); to treat an incident as a “teachable moment” or a moment of incarceration; or the ability to walk into a locker room without being subjected to racism – we see a school and a school district with two sets of rules, one for its white students and another for those treated each and every day as second-class citizens. What happened on May 4 was yet another example. It is no wonder that Jeannie Oakes,  in Racial & Ethnic Data in Schooling, identified Santa Monica High School as a place of “two schools,” one where college is likely, where advanced placement courses are commonplace, and where respect is a given to those white in attendance; the other is the school that houses black and brown youth. Unfortunately, when these two “schools” collided on this very day, the power and privilege of the one school once again illustrated the second-class citizenship that defines the other school.

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David J. Leonard is Associate Professor of Comparative Ethnic Studies at Washington State University, Pullman. He has written on sport, video games, film, and social movements, appearing in both popular and academic mediums. His work explores the political economy of popular culture, examining the interplay between racism, state violence, and popular representations through contextual, textual, and subtextual analysis. He is the author of Screens Fade to Black: Contemporary African American Cinema and the forthcoming After Artest: Race and the War on Hoop (SUNY Press). Leonard blogs @ No Tsuris