Schools

Soquel High School Embattled in Racial Controversy

Five Soquel High School students were suspended this week for suspicion of involvement in white supremacist activity.

Five students have been suspended from for "incidents of intimidation and harassment," Principal Ken Lawrence-Emanuel confirmed to Capitola-Soquel Patch on Friday.

The disciplined students received their punishment Wednesday after a senior class picture was taken, in which a group of students all wore white T-shirts. Following heightened tension and incidents of white supremacy-themed graffiti at the school, the students were deemed to be involved in such activity and were given four-day suspensions.

Although Lawrence-Emanuel remained tight-lipped on the details of the suspension, citing confidentiality obligations, he said this incident was not the first time the suspended students were involved with such behavior.

Find out what's happening in Capitola-Soquelwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"The first time something happens like this, we pull the students in, we conference with them, and we warn them that it has to stop," he said. "If there are additional occurrences, then we start ramping up the punishments."  

Superintendent of Santa Cruz City Schools Gary Bloom also acknowledged the recent punishment at Soquel High School to combat "hate speech and bullying," although he would not discuss specifics.

Find out what's happening in Capitola-Soquelwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"We are doing everything we can to create a safe environment in our schools," Bloom said. "We are also doing everything we can to stay on top of gang behavior. We have gangs in our community, including a white power gang. We’re responsible for dealing with these issues as they bubble up from the community into our schools."

Among the suspended students is 18-year-old David Mine. Mine is Asian-American, and not only does he contest his assumed involvement with any white supremacist activities, but he also told Capitola-Soquel Patch that he had no idea his friends had planned to wear white on the day of the class photo.

"On picture day, I just wore a white Santa Cruz T-shirt that my grandmother gave me for Christmas. I saw no harm in it," he said. "The next day, I was called in. I didn't even get to class. I was called in as soon as I parked and was told that I'm part of a white supremacy gang at Soquel."

Mine said that he later found out the rest of his friends had planned to wear white that day, although he had done it unintentionally. 

Mine and a group of other students in the Mechanical Engineering and Construction Academy (MEC) at Soquel High School were, as Principal Lawrence-Emanuel alluded to, called in to his office once before because of concern over white supremacist behavior.

The MEC students were working on a final school project that they had dubbed "World Peace." The name struck a chord with the administration of the school, who informed the students that "World Peace" can actually be code for "White Pride," according to Mine's lawyer, Jim Rummonds.

Despite the prior incident, which he said came as a surprise to him, Mine said Friday that he has no ties to white supremacist activity.

"I find [the allegations] disrespectful," he said. "I'm not white. I'm Asian. Even my father came in [to the school], and I said, 'I am not white. Look at my father.' My father is clearly not white, and I just find it disrespectful, stereotyping and judgmental."

Despite Mine's involvement, or lack thereof, in any of the reported activities, white power-themed events have indeed taken place on campus, as evidenced by the graffiti on school walls. 

"It's very hurtful and scary that these kids walk around yelling 'Heil Hitler,'" said an anonymous student in an email to Patch.

In an effort to change the current cultural tone of the student body at Soquel High School, the now-famous class photo will be re-taken next week, and Principal Lawrence-Emanuel said many kids plan to wear shirts with peace signs on them that day.

"I think that the students have been really creative in coming up with the next step," he said. "They’ve come up with all these ideas so far, so I’m anticipating that they’ll keep coming up with good ideas, and we’ll follow their lead."

Mine said he plans to either wear a peace sign or a shirt displaying his Asian heritage.


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