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By: Ilana Siyance
Police are investigating Swastikas and racist graffiti found in a boys’ bathroom at Beacon High School in Manhattan.
As reported by the NY Times, the vandalism is being looked into as a potential hate crime. On Monday, authorities said they were investigating the disturbing images in a bathroom stall at the elite college preparatory high school in Hell’s Kitchen, which boasts close to 1,500 students–including a sizable Jewish population and roughly 15 percent population of Black students. The graffiti included: three large red swastikas, the words “I HATE BLACKS”, and a menacing picture threatening a school shooting. The Police Department’s antiterrorism unit has also gotten involved, but so far no arrests were made. The threatening graffiti was first found on Thursday, leaving students and teachers unnerved, and leading to a rush of phone calls and emails by worried parents.
The principal at Beacon, Johnny A. Ventura, sent families a series of emails with updates to assure parents that the school was actively working with the authorities to keep students safe. He called the graffiti, “deplorable and unacceptable.” “As a Black Latino, my first set of emotions upon hearing and seeing this was anger, and then sadness that someone at our school would choose to write this,” Mr. Ventura wrote. “We embrace diversity and inclusion at Beacon. A threat to one of us is a threat to all of us.” In later emails to parents, the principal apologized for omitting in earlier emails the graffiti’s mention of a threat of a school shooting, targeting Blacks. “We understand the importance of transparency in these matters,” Mr. Ventura wrote.
The Times interviewed a number of students who said the episode was deeply unsettling. “I was shocked,” said Ava Baranowski, 15, a sophomore. She said, to some students, “it seems like a joke. But it is really serious. I think a lot of people were scared to come to school on Friday,” she added, although she said she still feels “pretty safe” at school.
In light of the episode, there will be increased police presence at Beacon. The Times reported, that students are not allowed to wander the school’s halls and staircases without a staff member accompanying them this week. Also, students and teachers may only use the restrooms one at a time.
In the wake of the ongoing war in Israel, which began with Hamas’ savage attack on Oct. 7th, high schools throughout New York City have been feeling the trickled effects of increased tension and hate. In other episodes, at a Queens high school, a pro-Israel teacher became the target to hundreds of student protestors. Also, earlier this month in a Brooklyn high school, several teachers reported troublesome antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents.
Nathaniel Styer, an Education Department spokesman said that the city’s schools chancellor, David C. Banks “has repeatedly made it clear that all forms of bias and hate — including antisemitism — have no place” in schools. “Education and appropriate consequences must be at the center of addressing bigoted beliefs and misconceptions that students might bring to school with them,” the spokesman said. In January, Chancellor Banks said that all city principals will receive mandatory training in March on “navigating difficult conversations,” in the wake of the Oct. 7th war.
