BROOKLYN, NY, March 29—When a neighborhood shooting took the life of a former student, a small school had two very different responses. The administration killed 17-year-old Claude* twice—once by pushing him out, and again by blaming him for his own death—while the students and education workers memorialized him again and again.
In doing so, the Department of Education exposed themselves as a racist child-hating system while the working class in this school of mainly untenured teachers is learning how to be pro-student. As his teacher and communist, I am learning how to win people to fight back and connect Claude to the violent nature of capitalism. A system that kills kids has got to go.
His life mattered
What can I say about Claude except that people loved him as much as he loved life and learning (see box). Three schools are mourning him—his primary/middle school, our school, and his transfer school. The union grief counselor remarked that he “never saw anything like it.” Claude was a neighborhood kid and everyone knew him or of him. He has left a senior and junior class in despair and anger, while the administration has left all the students and workers in the dark.
Instead of acknowledging the death and providing support to grieving students, the principal refused crisis support from the bigger DoE bosses. Instead of reaching out to the family, she smeared Claude’s reputation and character. Instead of holding a school-wide memorial, she reluctantly surrendered to a memorial wall, albeit deep inside the school.
This is the kind of leadership capitalist schools give—all done under a Democratic mayor in a liberal city.
Students organize vigil
We added photos and messages on the memorial wall. To counter the racist narrative, the academic and character awards Claude had received while at this school were posted as well. The poem “Kids Who Die” by Langston Hughes (see page 8) was also added and shared with participants.
Later in the week, two education workers and I called out of work to attend Claude’s funeral, which further angered administration. I delivered a portfolio of all the writings of Claude from his freshman year to the family. So many students showed up.
When we asked students what they wanted to do, some said, “at least a balloon release and photos.” So, that’s what we did. Two days after the funeral, students organized a vigil after school. A leaflet explaining that capitalism killed Claude was circulated.
Little did we know that while 24 students and 8 teachers were paying tribute to a clearly beloved student outside the building, a disgusting plan was underway on the inside the school. In true mafia fashion, when barely anyone was around, the memorial wall was disappeared.
Who tore down the memorial?
The next morning, students demanded to know who tore down the memorial wall. One thought it was a kid: “Did they catch him? Did they check the cameras?”
The criminal was none other than the DoE-darling, our Black Caribbean teacher-turned-principal who spends her days fudging data and terrorizing Black, Latin, and immigrant students. Reason for her crime?
“The funeral is over,” said the racist.
Learning to stand up
The utter disregard for a child’s life angered the students and workers. I asked the students, “What should we do?”
“Put it back up” they said, and so that’s what we did. After school, students from the Newspaper Club donated their bulletin board space and posted up a new memorial wall—near the main entrance this time. The administration do their dirty business in secret, but we workers and students must make our fight known. We spoke to every person who passed the halls: athletes in search of the finally-fixed water fountains, guidance counselors and students from other schools in the building, custodians sweeping piles of pencils. Every one of them expressed support for Claude.
The school day hadn’t even officially started the next morning, and the second memorial wall was already removed. People overheard the principal yelling, “Take this down now!”
The ruling class—as manifested in this administration—has put students and education workers in a position to take a stance. An angry meeting ensued with the educator workers’ union representative. I was also pulled out of class for 30 minutes to be disciplined. But, we walked out of the principal’s office with a tiny victory: she was forced to agree to put the memorial wall back up, but in the original less prominent location.
During lunch, a crowd of students and some teachers gathered to put up the memorial for the third time. “Every time she removes it, we’ll just put it back up. And make it even bigger.”
And that’s what we are doing. Working-class students are proving again and again that they can give leadership, and they don’t need the bosses and the overseers to run things.
Making Black boys disappear
Today, three junior boys said they were suspended and are now at risk of failing. When one parent asked to see the suspension letter, the school said they’d get back to them. The students were told to stay home, and weren’t allowed in the building without a parent. Not only did this DoE administration—more like a criminal gang—steal learning time away from the students, they also stole work hours and pay from working-class families who were forced into parent meetings after parent meetings.
Push-out of “difficult” (read: Black, Latin, and immigrant) students from schools is a racist policy. This is exactly what they had done to Claude.
Much like Success Academy—the charter school notorious for having a “got to go” list with names of kids who didn’t fit into their prison environment (New York Times, 10/29/15)—this public school disappears student to keep their graduation numbers and other scholastic data high. The principal loves to laud around her stacks of accolades in an unscreened Title 1 school with nearly 1 in 4 students with a special need. The secret recipe is racism.
At the union meeting today, we reported on the administration’s racist response to Claude and how it’s affecting students. I said, “what happened to [Claude] in the streets was violent, but what this administration is doing to [Claude’s] memorial is also violent…and whether or not you knew him, when one of us is attacked, we are all attacked…When students have an event, show up. When your student disappears, speak up.”
The workers responded with bravery. One new teacher suggested, “We can send a message by everyone wearing a pin.”
Another asked, “Do you have more photos of him that we can post in our rooms?”
Another added, “We need to find a way to incorporate this into our lessons.”
If Claude weren’t pushed out, would he have been alive to walk on graduation day in three
months? An administration that cares more about their 95 percent graduation rate than a
Black child has got to go. Claude’s killing has exposed a criminal policy that we need to
fight.
Claude was not a number. He was a member of the working class, and he deserved better. A
system that treats certain students as expendable DOES NOT deserve to exist. For our
students, shut this racist system down. The fight has only begun.
*The pseudonym Claude is inspired by the communist fighter and writer, Claude Mckay.