It was the middle of September when a community member posted an image of a homecoming float at Bella Vista High School on the theme of ‘cops and robbers’ which featured a young, Black man behind bars. The float, representing the junior class, was voted the best float by staff members at the school.
“I felt a little bit stunned because you're seeing a Black male in an orange suit, also handcuffed,” said Bella Vista senior and Black Student Union member Dominique Edwards.
Standing right behind the float, she said she was grappling with the question, “Whose idea was this?” Edwards also reported that “all the cops were white students and all the robbers were students of color.”
Her mother, Rashawn Matthews, said she couldn’t believe it: “My jaw dropped. The young man inside made [eye] contact with me and looked like he felt shame.”
According to Jayha Buhs-Jackson, the school’s Black Student Union president, the theme — which had been approved in April by the student government and administrators at school — was questioned by staff when they were made aware of it in early September. To ease apprehension, the Spirit Day theme was changed from “cops and robbers” to “Adam Sandler day” but the float, which had already been finished, was allowed at the parade.
“Regardless of who was in there, that can just bring up a lot of issues with the criminal justice system and mass incarceration,” explained Buhs-Jackson. “My dad is a Black man and very dark-skinned. Every interaction he's faced with people in [the criminal justice] system has not been positive.”
The district spent around a month investigating the race-related incident, which concluded last week.
“Appropriate actions are being taken as a result of the investigation,” the district wrote in an email. “We are working with our Black Student Union and several community partners, engaging in additional professional learning and we’ve asked that all of our schools districtwide ask themselves critical questions before deciding themes for future events and spirit days.”
The Greater Sacramento’s NAACP has gotten involved with Bella Vista High’s Black Student Union to ensure that Black students on campus are empowered.
CapRadio reached out to the school administration about their role and protocols but has yet to hear back.
“I can't speak for the staff at Bella Vista as to why they're not comfortable with wanting to speak,” said Kristan Schnepp, assistant superintendent of the San Juan Unified School District. “It's something that we're working through as a staff and it's been a learning opportunity for Bella Vista.”
She took part in the district’s investigation and did not provide answers to a few key questions such as “Who approved this?” and “Why was the float allowed after staff had raised concerns about the theme?”
Buhs-Jackson said that she had not heard about the investigation or the outcomes thereafter.
“I have not heard anything,” said Buhs-Jackson, who has been taking the lead in amplifying the Black voices on campus. “That's why I'm concerned that the resolutions are empty words, empty promises.”
Black students want changes to school culture
Black students and parents voiced concerns after the homecoming event and tensions rose on the school campus, Buhs-Jackson said, but she heard some staff tell her that the event was being “blown out of proportion.”
“I don't think my school is quite aware at times because it is a predominantly white school,” Edwards clarified. Bella Vista High School’s ethnic demographic makeup is 62% white, 22% Hispanic, 7% two or more races, 4% Asian and 2% Black.
Edwards identified the lack of diversity in student government as a possibility for why these decisions were made.
“It's mainly white and [they] have one Black kid and another minority there,” said Edwards.
Buhs-Jackson, along with the rest of the Black Student Union, mobilized to send a list of resolutions to the principal which included the need for diversity in decision-making on campus, a staff-student equity team and improved racial education for the staff and students.
Since then, the Black Student Union has not felt the situation was dealt with appropriately, said Buhs-Jackson. During the Union’s closed meeting, she reported that members of the student government unexpectedly showed up.
Both Buhs-Jackson and Edwards hint at racism as part of the underlying campus culture. A cheerleader, Edwards has noticed a few microaggressions directed towards her.
“They cannot see how [their actions] affect people of color and Black people. They tend to keep us on the side and put the white people or people that are just lighter in the center,” said Edwards. “Some people will say stuff [around me] and it's like, ‘You realize I'm standing right here, right?’”
Matthews, Edwards’ mother, has been monitoring the school’s climate since her elder daughter attended in 2011.
“The one thing that's been consistent is that I don't think they recognize what they're doing,” she said. “They're in this ignorant bubble and they're not trying to get out of it because every day they wake up, they see themselves.”
Buhs-Jackson echoed the insensitive cultural climate of the school, claiming these types of things happen weekly. She said students of color have told her of instances on campus where white teachers have used inappropriate or derogatory language towards them.
Float highlights other racist actions at Sacramento schools
Black students from across the Sacramento region have stepped up in support of the Black students on Bella Vista’s campus, revealing the shared narrative of being Black on a majority-white campus.
Arianne McCullough, a C.K. McClatchy High School student and a part of the Zero Tolerance Youth Leadership Team in Sacramento, champions policies at the intersection of race and punitive disciplinary action. When she heard of the float at Bella Vista High, she was not surprised.
“There have been other racist incidents in and around Sacramento,” she said. “I was more stunned that it could be so blatantly racist and also saddened for the Black boy who was inside the jail cell.”
McCullough and the leadership team discussed how this float was representative of issues many Black students in Sacramento encounter.
“One of the things that was brought up was this idea of race laundering,” she explained. “Race laundering is the use of Black faces to peddle white supremacist ideas and causes, but because a black person is doing it, all of a sudden it's not racist.”
Kimora Morley, who is also a part of the leadership team and attends McClatchy High, transferred schools because of the hardships she faced in predominantly white schools in Sacramento. She highlighted how, as a minority, she felt the pressure to conform to the norm.
“I know just how isolating it feels and how easy it is to get roped into stuff like that,” she said, advocating for the few Black students involved with the float at Bella Vista High. “I just don't want people to blame the black student because it's not necessarily their fault.”
Schnepp, the district’s assistant superintendent, has been in communication with the principal and said that he wants to look at the event through a restorative lens.
“I am going to be honest with you, this was the worst-case scenario,” she said. “For us to perpetuate bias and stereotypes is the thing that I was afraid of. It is an opportunity for us to lean in and start having the conversations that needed to happen at all of our high schools.”
The Greater Sacramento NAACP said it was not contacted by the school to employ a restorative lens, but has independently reached out to the school to offer its services to staff and students.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated when the investigation concluded. It was last week.
Srishti Prabha is an education reporter and Report For America corps member in collaboration with CapRadio and The Sacramento Observer. Their focus is K-12 education in Sacramento’s Black communities.
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