In some instances, groups of students went from class to class looking for Asian students to beat up. One student said security officers at the school directed some Asian students into a lunchroom, where they were attacked. Other Asian students said their black classmates told them to go back to their country and hurled slurs at them such as "Dragon Ball" and "Bruce Lee."
Instead of apologizing immediately and moving quickly to defuse the tensions and correct the problem, Ackerman has mostly dodged responsibility and shifted the blame. At every turn, she has appeared more and more tone-deaf and in need of sensitivity training.
It took Ackerman eight days to get around to visiting the school. Six days passed before she publicly responded to the incident. Even then, she offered a lukewarm apology in prepared remarks and took a defensive posture, saying the school district had been asked to "single-handedly solve the problems of violence and racial discord."
Hey, Arlene, no one is asking you to bring about world peace and end racism. But a little compassion and some reassurance that school safety is a top priority would be nice.
The racial tensions between blacks and Asians at South Philadelphia High have been bubbling for years, and they have been mostly ignored by the district. Before the fights took place, members of the Asian American community tried to meet with the new principal but were blown off. It turns out that the principal had been pushed out of the school she was running in Atlantic City, raising questions about why she was even hired in Philadelphia.
