Advocates' claim of systemic racial injustice at South Philly high has merit, say feds

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Advocates' claim of systemic racial injustice at South Philly high has merit, say feds

POSTED: Friday, August 27, 2010, 10:04 PM
Filed Under: News

The Inquirer reports today that the U.S. Department of Justice has sent the Philadelphia School District a letter indicating it found "merit" in claims by the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund of systemic race-based violence at South Philadelphia High School.

Last December (you may recall), Philly was rocked by news that more than twenty Asian students had been attacked by a group of as many as 100 students, most of them African-American.

It was an ugly incident –but not an unprecedented one: Asian community advocates had been trying for years to draw attention to what they called the systemic victimization of Asian immigrant students - allegations that they say were ignored by school officials.

Indeed, following the December 3 attacks, school officials attempted to pin much of the blame on an alleged gang-related attack two days earlier, instigated by a Vietnamese immigrant student, Hao Luu, who had in fact reported being assaulted himself that day (read more about Hao Luu in our cover story, "The Fall Guy,").

Today's news fuels charges that what happened on December 3 was no isolated incident but instead symptomatic of more deeply-rooted racial injustice at the school.

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