Hundreds of angry parents, teachers, and students gathered at last month’s Hammond City School Board meeting to confront the gross racism at one of their schools. Before the meeting had officially started, parents whispered their stories to one another, and the palpable energy and anger grew. Fathers and mothers shook their heads in disgust as they listened to account after account of students being made to eat their lunch on the floor for speaking Spanish, being addressed with racial slurs in class and similar racist practices. 

Parents’ whispers were quickly hushed when, with no small ceremony, the School Board of Directors took their places at the head of the room, and requested that all stand for the pledge of allegiance. The irony was not lost on some residents and our friends who commented, “This is no country of ours,” when they noticed PLP members remained seated. Our members must now struggle to make it clear that no nation or nationalism can meet the needs of the workers. The red flag is the only flag of the international working class.

The dismissive attitude toward parents’ concerns was evident from the very beginning of the meeting. The Board made a brief announcement in Spanish that it was aware of the problem and was considering implementing civil rights and cultural sensitivity training.  This “solution” had been decided before they’d even heard the parents’ complaints.

The Board then proceeded with information on what doctors’ offices would be invited to immunize Hammond students and how poorly parents are keeping up with vaccine schedules. While 90% of the parents present were Spanish-speaking only, there was no translation offered. Party members asked for translation and were denied, being told, “This isn’t a public Board meeting, it’s a Board meeting in public.”

The disrespect continued as Board members dragged out unbearably long reports on building codes with jokes about vacation spots and sports teams, delaying as long as possible the “public forum.”

Over ninety minutes later, the first parent was able to speak. Although the Board was well aware that hundreds of Spanish-speaking parents were present, they failed to arrange for translation, even of the parents’ testimonies. This further reinforced the unmistakable impression that the claims were not being taken seriously.

A Party member took it upon herself to act as translator. Stories went from bad to worse, as generations worth of racism were exposed. A young boy shared his story of being patted down in the boys’ washroom because “he looked like a Mexican drug dealer.” A young girl’s face burned red as she told how her teacher said she needn’t be in an Advanced Placement class, “since a cute Mexican girl like her should be looking for a job at Hooters.” A mom said she cried when she saw her daughter had the same teachers she had over a decade before and would suffer the same racism.

Parent after parent, student after student, passionately denounced the blatant racist harassment they experienced at school. The Board did nothing more than allow them to vent.

The only “solution” offered was the possibility of cultural sensitivity training for the teachers. Party members called for termination of teachers with racist histories, but apart from some nods throughout the audience, it was never considered as a real possibility. Party members are trying to work with students and parents outside Board meetings, in order to escalate the struggle and strengthen our personal and political ties with them. 

Sadly missing from the discussion were black parents and students, even though they experience racism in school as well. During a lecture one teacher reportedly told his class, “if we didn’t have blacks, we wouldn’t have violence.” Party members are trying to bring more black parents and students to the next meeting to avoid it being portrayed as simply a “Latino” issue. 

It is likely that the racist teachers will get no more than a slap on the wrist. The School Board will probably draw out the struggle for as long as possible to wear parents down, making empty promises and calling endless meetings. The Party’s presence, however, can work to integrate the struggle and expose education under capitalism as a failure for the working class, and racism as a necessary part of capitalism. Building ties with both students and parents, bringing forward the very relevant aspects of the Party’s line and escalating class struggle as much as possible can teach us a lot about building communism.