SBUnifiedBy the Santa Barbara Unified School District
Recently SB Unified staff were troubled to learn that a swastika was discovered on a pole in the Dos Pueblos High School athletic stadium. A custodial team removed it immediately, and an investigation is now underway.
While we have not determined the perpetrator, Santa Barbara Unified condemns this hateful act in the strongest possible terms.
We also learned this week that more hateful and despicable anti-Semetic incidents occurred in Isla Vista and UCSB (link).
Santa Barbara Unified opposes these acts and will continue to educate our students and our community in combating any and all acts of bias and hate. If you see or hear anything, please report it to school site leaders.
On November 15, 2022, the SBUnified Board of Trustees adopted Resolution on Respectful Treatment of All Persons. The resolution calls for “students, employees, parents, and community members in both schools and offices treat all persons equally and respectfully and refrain from the willful or negligent use of slurs against any person on the basis of race, language spoken, color, sex, religion, disability, national origin, immigration status, age, gender, sexual orientation, or political belief.”
The District has several initiatives already underway to address racial incidents in our community. Our staff is taking Anti-Bias / Anti-Racist Training right now, and we are awaiting the results of the Insight Racial Climate Survey analysis. SB Unified is also preparing to launch the “I U We Stand” Campaign soon as part of an education campaign against hate.
Any student or staff member should report any incident to their school site leaders, and we will address any situation swiftly and thoroughly.
These incidents happened as we enter Black History Month and just after International Holocaust Remembrance Day. SB Unified encourages our families to join us in having conversations with students about how these and other groups have historically faced discrimination. Instead, the District wants to celebrate our differences, and denounce all forms of hate and violence.
“We stand with the Jewish community and condemn all forms of hate. What’s happened at Dos Pueblos and across Isla Vista/ UCSB is troubling. We continue our commitment to identifying, responding, and providing remedies to racial incidents when they occur in our schools. We believe in and stand for the respectful treatment and dignity of all people as one of our strongest values,” said Dr. Hilda Maldonado, Superintendent.
I think Jews are hated by fanatics because Judiasm preaches tolerance and supports social justice and contributes to charities way beyond their percentage number of the population. Maybe it’s because they’ve been on the receiving end of so much prejudice and restriction, but whatever–just look at the names on who contributes to educational, environmental, cultural causes and charities that support the disadvantaged of religions and ethnic populations that aren’t even their own. Of course that infuriates the self-obsessed who believe only those their narrow, often intrusive views matter.