Asian students vow to continue school boycott

[Blue_Tires]

More than 50 Asian students stayed away from South Philadelphia High yesterday, as they will all week - a boycott, they said, of the school's unsafe conditions and the district's failure to deal with long-standing violence between racial groups.

School district officials, the students say, are downplaying attacks last week on about 30 Asian students and aren't taking the problem seriously.

"They promise and promise," said Duong Ly, one of the school's 900 students. "Last year, same problem, and nothing changes."

He hates to miss any school, but "we didn't come to America to fight," Ly said. "But we go to the bathroom, and we get attacked."

Michael Silverman, the regional superintendent who oversees South Philadelphia, acknowledged long-standing racial tensions, but he said that since summer the efforts of a new administration at the school had calmed things somewhat. Even before the latest violence, efforts included community meetings and mediation sessions.

Officials said last night that they erred last week in saying violence was down at the school. A district spokesman said that through the end of November, assaults were up by 32 percent, to 37 this year, and overall violence was up by 5 percent, with 43 total attacks this year.

Attacks on Asian students were down by 38 percent - there were five this year through the end of November, and eight last year, September through November. These numbers don't include last week's violence.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/78749332.html

[firedupdem]

1. Sad. n/t