Racism at
Wailuku school
‘really wrong’

An African-American student
has been taunted by classmates,
many of them native Hawaiian

By Gary Kubota
Star-Bulletin

WAILUKU -- Shelly Knox says she and her son Philliep have lived in Chicago and Minneapolis and have never encountered such a great degree of racism as when he began attending Iao Intermediate School in central Maui.

"We've never had to deal with this type of pain," said Knox, who is African American. "As a parent, when your child is hurting, you want to do what you can to help them and to relieve the hurt in whatever way possible. I just want it to stop."

The alleged incidents, at least one of which has been confirmed by school Principal Elizabeth Ayson, have come as a disappointment for many.

Some residents are saddened that the racial harassment has allegedly come from native Hawaiian students.

"This is really wrong," said Charles Maxwell Sr., a native Hawaiian minister and chairman of the Hawaii advisory committee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission.

Maxwell said Hawaiians have benefited from the civil-rights struggle by African Americans, and he regards the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as his hero.

"What he stood for is very indicative of what the native Hawaiian plight was," Maxwell said. "It made it possible for us to pursue our drive for sovereignty and equality."

The 830 students at Iao come from diverse ethnic and income backgrounds, ranging from parents working as professionals to the unemployed and homeless.

The student population at Iao includes Japanese, 18.6 percent; Filipino, 22.4; part-Hawaiian, 25; Hawaiian, 5.4; Caucasian, 9.7; Portuguese, 3.2; Chinese 1.97; Korean, 1.6; Hispanic, 1.2; and others, 9.3.

African Americans account for less than 1 percent of the student body, or fewer than five students.

Knox said her son, 14, an eighth-grader who takes special-education classes, began school in mid-September.

Knox said the problem has continued for so long that she felt compelled to file a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Education.

The complaint, filed Monday in Seattle, charges Philliep was punched and shoved by students and that students have shouted racial slurs at him daily.

Ayson said the school has investigated each one of four alleged incidents and disciplined students.

She said one student was suspended for a day after he shouted a racial slur at Shelly Knox as she walked on campus.

Ayson said in the incident in which Philliep was shoved, no discipline was administered because he was unable to identify his attacker.

She said in a third incident, no discipline was meted out to a student accused of bothering Philliep, because the school was unable to confirm the allegation.

Ayson said she felt the physical attack upon Philliep occurred because of a cultural misunderstanding.

She said the girl didn't like the way Philliep was staring at her, and when she asked if he had a problem, he said he did have a problem with her.

Ayson said the girl interpreted his remark as meaning he wanted to fight.

She said the school has no specific curriculum about racial tolerance but it is taught at all grade levels.

"The message from the school is, 'All cruelty is wrong,' and we work with it all the time," Ayson said.

Sandy Ma, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union, said the school needs to do more to resolve the problem.

"There should be racial tolerance training classes at all levels," Ma said.

Randall Jones, associate director for the Office for Civil Rights, said his office will review the complaint and may pursue different methods of resolution, including mediation.