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Literally, it's the year of the TIGER!
12.06.2009
asian students boycotting south philly highStatement by Wei Chen, president, South Philadelphia High School Chinese American Student AssociationCan you blame these students for taking refuge elsewhere? Many of these students actually moved to the United States from Asia for a chance at a better education, only to find themselves under constant threat of violence. It's absolutely ridiculous that it's come to this, that a school cannot protect its own students.
It is our opinion that South Philadelphia High School is still not a safe place for us. Because we are Asian immigrants, we are targeted. We have been working with the school a long time, but still the school has failed to provide a concrete plan to address our safety inside and outside the building.
We remain very upset with some staff members who are unresponsive to our concerns. We have been saying repeatedly that the security team has problems, but the School District still has not responded to our concerns. One staff person even slept through our meeting last Friday.
Because of that we will not return to South Philadelphia High School this week. Instead, we are going to meet in our community to figure out some real solutions of our own. Dozens of students have already committed to meeting during school hours. We ask the police and school district to recognize what we're doing and respect our ability to travel between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.
We invite concerned students from all races to contact us if you want to join.
Wei Chen, president
South Philadelphia High School Chinese-American Student Association
PHILADELPHIA - More than two dozen Chinese-American students at South Philadelphia High School say they were attacked this week in school and off of school property.
Now, officials have added more security at the school, located at Broad Street and Snyder Avenue, and they're promising zero tolerance.
A heavy police presence was evident as officials denounced the violence that saw 26 students attacked and 10 students suspended for the fights. Several students were treated at the hospital after the attacks.
Officials say they've been working with the Asian-American community and other groups at the school over the past year to try and quell some of the hostility. They say violence is down over 50 percent from last year.
South Philadelphia High School says they will continue to have tight security and hold an open dialogue with students and their parents as they try to avoid any further violence.
Police have not made any arrests, but officials said they will seek to have any students involved in the attacks prosecuted.
Fox 29's Dave Schratwieser said the students are living in fear and afraid to go back to school, even with the additional security measures.
James Golden is the chief safety executive for the Philadelphia School District. He says there have been strenuous efforts to improve race relations and cultural awareness and a positive learning environment previals.
But Xu Lin of the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation disputes that. He says his efforts to facilitate community meetings and cultural training at the school have been largely ignored.
South Philadelphia High School is 70 percent black and 18 percent Asian. It serves mostly low-income neighborhoods south of downtown and has been labeled "persistently dangerous" by the state.