09 Dec WCCUSD Considers New Policies on Slurs and Racialized Harm

(Screenshot captured by Samantha Kennedy / The CC Pulse)

By Samantha Kennedy

The West Contra Costa Unified School District is spearheading the anti-racist push across Contra Costa County schools, passing the county’s first antiracism policy in August to eliminate racial inequities in schools. The district, which is made up of a majority of students of color, could now soon see new policies regulating racialized harm and slurs to further those anti-racist efforts. 

The anti-slur policy would be new and set guidelines and expectations, including reporting and accountability of slur usage. The inclusion of racialized harm would be added to the district’s current non-discrimination policy and recognizes the potential of racial trauma. 

The proposed policies come months after board members shared their experiences with racism in the district and over a year since families complained of anti-Black racism. 

>>>Read: RHS Student Wants to Take the N-Word ‘Out of People’s Vocabulary’<<<

“African American children in this district should not be walking around calling each other the n-word,” said Trustee Mister Phillips, who recalled an interaction where a Black youth was offended when Phillips called him a “young man” in Oakland. “And the reason they should not be doing it is because they grow up to be that ‘young man’ who does not know how to be addressed as a young man.” 

>>>Read: RHS Student Says Things Are ‘a Little Bit Better’ After Protest Against N-Word<<<

Phillips, who is Black, was one of the members who said they had received racist threats or comments following the censure of Trustee Leslie Reckler and the reassignment of Pinole Valley High School then-principal Kibby Kleiman.

The use of slurs among each other “makes it difficult for them to take their rightful God given place on this Earth,” Phillips said, “because they walk around thinking they are less than because they’ve been conditioned to do that.” 

Reckler, who is Jewish, suggested that there be a distinction in the policy that discusses the use of certain words or phrases that may be harmful to a person when used by someone outside their group but not those within. 

Board President Jamela Smith-Folds did not agree, saying there was zero tolerance for slurs in district schools and the district shouldn’t “split the hairs.” 

“Racialized slurs create racialized harm,” said Smith-Folds. “No matter who is saying it to whom, and no matter who is hearing it.” 

The policy defines a slur as “epithet, threat, verbal abuse, use of profanity or derogatory comment, rumor, joke, note, story, drawing, picture, or gesture” that “demeans a person’s perceived ethnicity, race, national origin, immigrant status, religious belief, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, manner of speech, or any other physical or cultural characteristics.”

Words, spoken, written or otherwise digitally transmitted while on school grounds or participating in school activities, would be included. 

Specific phrases and words are not listed in the proposed policy, but Reckler, who said student input would make or break the proposed policy’s implementation, wondered how the district would keep up with slang as it changes. 

If an individual is found to be in violation of the proposed policy, the consequences “would be proportionate to the nature of the incident” and could include restorative practices, counseling or suspension. 

Proposed changes to the district’s non-discrimination policy on racialized harm would “recognize the impact of racialized harm and racial trauma on the district’s ability to provide such an environment.” 

Racial harm is, according to the proposed revisions, “the mental and emotional injury caused by encounters with racial bias and ethnic discrimination, racism, and hate crimes” and anyone who has experienced racial harm is at risk of “suffering from racial trauma.” 

The next WCCUSD school board meeting is on Dec. 18.