Black parents on edge following a racist threat at Anaheim high school

Parents of Black students at a California high school are on high alert after someone made a racist threat on social media, warning people at the institution to “be ready.”

According to NBC News, Western High School in Anaheim received the threat against Black students early this month in an Instagram Story post containing a racial epithet and an image of several firearms, including a semi-automatic rifle.

John Bautista, Anaheim Union High School District’s public information manager, issued a statement Monday saying that the city’s Police Department is investigating the incident.

Parents of Black students attending Western High School in Anaheim, California, say administrators aren’t doing enough to ensure their children’s safety in the wake of a threat made this month on social media. (Photo: Screenshot/YouTube.com/AUHSD Communications)

He referenced an email sent to families on May 5 that said the district is “aware of a threat circulating on social media platforms regarding a school shooting” at Western High and other schools in Orange County and nationwide. According to the statement, law enforcement “deemed the threat to be NON CREDIBLE” and urged the public to report any suspicious activity.

The Police Department’s public information officer, Sgt. Jonathan McClintock, said the department examined “numerous school-related threats that occurred on May 5” and takes them all seriously, adding that additional details are forthcoming.

Multiple schools in several states reportedly received threats that day, and personnel at them assessed the threat as unspecified, according to NBC. In Florida, the Coral Springs Police Department detained an 18-year-old last Friday for threatening on social media to carry out a school shooting, though it is unknown if he is connected to the Western High threat.

Anaheim authorities said police there had strengthened patrols at neighborhood schools and asked anyone with further information about the threats to get in touch.

Parent Shanay Joshway claimed that on May 8, she spoke with an assistant principal, Matthew Griffin, who said the student who made the threat against Western High “was a boy from Savanna High School.” 

However, she said when she later communicated with Anaheim investigator Robert Reams, he told her he didn’t know about Savanna High School or a boy detained there, leaving Joshway feeling “uneasy all over again,” NBC reported. 

Some parents said they are alarmed by the threat due to a string of racist incidents their children have encountered with minimal help from school leadership. Pamela Driskel-James said there has been “an escalation” of racist actions directed toward her son, Kenneth, a junior at Western High, since the previous school year. His football team, which has many Black players, was frequently the victim of racist crimes, such as vandalizing Black students’ vehicles, she said.

Driskel-James said school administrators eventually became aware of the racist incidents last spring, and local police monitored the football games until the season ended. A month later, she said, she received word from administrators that four Latino students had jumped her son on his way to class. While he wasn’t hurt, the mother expressed concern for his well-being.

Victor James, Driskel-James’ husband, said, “We don’t feel safe,” adding that they believe no one from the school is taking the matter seriously, NBC reported.

“No one’s making a big deal about it,” James contended. “What do we have to do? Have one of our kids killed before somebody shows up to say something?”

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