:ToDspin::ToDspin:

http://www.sunjournal.com/story/2083...dent_in_city/#

'Hate incident' in city

By Bonnie Washuk , Staff Writer
Thursday, April 19, 2007

LEWISTON - One student has been suspended and more disciplinary action could follow a possible hate crime at Lewiston Middle School, Superintendent Leon Levesque said Wednesday.

On April 11, a white student placed a ham steak in a bag on a lunch table where Somali students were eating. Muslims consider pork unclean and offensive.

The act reminded students of a man who threw a pig's head into a Lewiston mosque last summer.

The school incident is being treated seriously as "a hate incident," Levesque said. Lewiston police are investigating, and the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence is working with the school to create a response plan.

"We've got some work to do to turn this around and bring the school community back together again," Levesque said.

Placing ham where Muslim students were eating was "an awful thing," said Stephen Wessler, executive director of the Center for Prevention of Hate Violence. "It's extraordinarily hurtful and degrading" to Muslims, whose religion prohibits them from being around ham. It's important to respond swiftly, Wessler said.

"Incidents like this that involve degrading language or conduct are often said by the perpetrator as a joke. I know that conduct is never static," he said. "It's part of a process of escalation."

If people think insulting Muslims with ham is OK, "More degrading acts will follow, until at some point we'll end up having violence," Wessler said.

The incident does not reflect the moral values of the school staff and students, Levesque said. "We need to take a look at this and review how a careless act is degrading and causes hurt to other people. All our students should feel welcome and safe in our schools."

He said a letter would be sent home to parents explaining what happened and outlining the school's response. Wessler will meet with students to address the school's climate, and staff will talk about how to respond to and prevent future hate incidents
'I didn't feel safe'

A 14-year-old Somali boy, whose mother asked that his name not be published, said he was eating lunch with four other Somali students on April 11. He noticed many others in the cafeteria "standing up, looking at us."

One boy came near, began laughing and threw a bag on the table while other students laughed and said, 'Good job.'"

"We didn't know what was in this bag," the boy said. "One of my friends reached inside it. It was a big ham steak. There were five of us at the table, all Somali. It was intended for us."

The boy said he looked up at students he thought were his friends. "I felt angered, offended."

He suddenly felt like he was alone. "At the school the next day, I didn't feel safe. I felt like everybody was against me. Before I felt like I fit in, and everything was normal."

He began to think white students didn't like him, and the act was their way of letting him know.

On Thursday, several students came up to him and said, "Those guys who did it were jerks. I apologize for them, and I hope you feel better."

The boy said they did make him feel better. "But for the rest of my life when I remember middle school, this will pop up right away."

He spoke out because he wants the community to know what happened, "that there is something like this going on in our schools."

Wessler and Levesque said the act happened the day before April vacation began, which prevented educators from gathering information.

"This is not done," Wessler said.

 

not saying its no big deal,

but man the media and activists blow this stuff out of proportions. they are a bunch of kids, for starters half the time they dont realize the effects their actions will have.

i would say this is far from a "hate crime". this is a joke gone wrong if you ask me, these kids thought it would be a funny joke not realizing what they were doing was in actuality quite offensive to muslims.

 

this kid once told me to fix the dvd player in highschool because i was asian, he got in trouble, even though I laughed and I told the teacher it was fine.

so basically, what rebeld said h:

 

I know a couple of Muslim people...I've eaten pork around them, and they're never said "My religion forbids me to be around ham"....they just don't eat it.

This sound ridiculous to me. :down:

 

makes me think about super markets selling pork products. I hardly think Muslims navigating the isles are putting up picket signs because there's pork in the meat dept. In that case, its showing tolerance on both sides. They don't have to buy or look at the meat but its still available for people who DO want to buy it.

I realize its more about the delibrate effort to offend the other students that's at issue here, but over all it DOES sound a bit rediculous to me too.

Kids are assholes in every way in Jr high and HS, this is the way it is unfortunately.

 

Someone threw a can of Maple Syrup at my head back in HS.


I thought it was a hate crime too... but I was too scared of the white kids to say anything :wtc:

 

did you fix it?

 

the power cord wasn't inserted into the receptacle all the way, therefore it didn't start h:

 

But the asian diagnosed the problem...

 

I live in LewistoWn. :eek3: