At least two students were suspended from Soquel High School this week. The charge was membership in a white supremacist group. The evidence? They wore white T-shirts.
At least two students were suspended from Soquel High School this week. The charge was membership in a white supremacist group. The evidence? They wore white T-shirts.
Senior David Mine was one of the students suspended. “I’m Asian,” he protested. “I don’t see how I can be a white supremacist.” Classmate Mikey Donnelly felt the same way. “I do think this is BS,” he said. “It’s a pretty bad feeling to be labeled something you’re not.”
One student was described in the Sentinel as having a parent and grandparents who were placed in Japanese internment camps during World War II.
Principal Ken Lawrence-Emanuel has been unwilling to discuss the issue, saying that this would be a violation of school policy. He did, however, say that there have been several complaints about a white supremacist students group in the school. “Safety is always first at Soquel High,” he added.
On Thursday, about 100 students demonstrated against the suspensions and against racial tensions in the school. Many of them wore white T-shirts, some of them marked with peace signs. Read more at KION and the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
