Public decries pattern of racism at Santa Barbara Unified following ‘blackface’ incident

Members of the public blasted the Santa Barbara Unified School District at its board meeting Tuesday night for failing to adequately protect Black students and address racism on campus. 

The outcry came after a racist post depicting “blackface” was uploaded to TikTok by a San Marcos High School student several weeks ago and quickly circulated around campus. 

A few hours before the board meeting, students from the San Marcos and Dos Pueblos high schools Black Student Unions engaged in a school walkout to spread awareness about anti-Black racism on school campuses. 

The board room was packed with educators, students, activists and members of the community with signs reading “stop ignoring racism,” “racism doesn’t disappear when it’s swept under the rug” and “protect Black youth.”

Though the public’s statements to the board were addressing the recent San Marcos incident, underlying feelings of frustration and being unheard on past racist incidents came bubbling to the surface.

Some members of the public Tuesday night were wondering why it took two weeks for the San Marcos principal, Dare Holdren, and district administration to notify families of the recent “blackface” incident after it was reported to the school’s administration.

“Parents deserve to know,” said Leticia Forney Resch, an executive director for Healing Justice Santa Barbara. “They had pictures and images going out to students for a week-and-a-half… Y’all didn’t do your job.” 

Even Abel Gonzalez, the ethnic studies teacher at San Marcos High school whose classroom was featured in the background of the racist social media post, was not aware the incident took place in his classroom until students were also notified. 

“When Black students are harmed, every student is harmed,” Gonzalez said. “Black and brown students are very upset and trying to heal.” 

The incident has reverberated around the greater Santa Barbara Unified community, bringing to light a pattern of racism in the district. 

“When a nation refuses to confront institutional and structural racism, the harm does not stay contained, it escalates,” said Charlotte Gullap-Moore. “Santa Barbara Unified has watched that escalation in its own schools.” 

Some speakers during public comment brought up prior racist incidents, including a Santa Barbara Junior High student being physically assaulted and called racial slurs, Black students being subjected to monkey noises in the hallways and a substitute teacher using the “n-word” in class. 

“These are not isolated incidents, but reflect a pattern of anti-Black racism, which is the responsibility of this district to interrupt,” said Maile Schnoover, the communications manager for The Fund for Santa Barbara. 

Others were questioning what was holding the district back from thoughtfully addressing racism, despite repeated incidents coming to the board’s attention. Public commenters urged the board to take proper disciplinary action against the students involved in the recent social media incident, rather than just giving them a slap on the wrist.

“Doing nothing tells this community that anti-Black bias and racism is woven into the fabric of Santa Barbara schools,” said Moore, who was asked to read a statement on behalf of Santa Barbara Unified teacher Tahnia Mark. “So be honest, do you really care about Black students? If you don’t, just say it…Otherwise, show through action.”

Simone Akila Ruskamp, an executive director for Healing Justice Santa Barbara, criticized the board for not putting an item on the agenda to address Black students’ demands, despite pleading with Board President Bill Banning beforehand.

“If you actually care about Black students, they can be an agenda item, so you can actually implement the demands that Black students have been telling you for over two years,” said Akila Ruskamp. 

During an earlier portion of public comment, Banning told attendees their speaking time would be limited to one minute, creating outcries from some members of the public for cutting off discussion on racism. 

Some of the demands brought forth by members of the public include retaining Black teachers and staff and making ethnic studies and racial justice part of every course curriculum. 

“The style of the district leadership is to hide embarrassing and inappropriate situations until there is such a public outcry that the board are forced to deal with it,” said Joel Block, a teacher at La Cuesta Continuation School. 

Board members appeared stunned after public comments, but agreed they will take action swiftly. 

“I am speechless,” said board member Sunita Beall. She said the board should formalize recommendations brought forth by the district’s Committee Advancing Black Achievement, Wellness, and Excellence for discussion.

Board member Rose Munoz said she supports holding a special board meeting on addressing the concerns brought up Tuesday night.

“I think it’s beyond doing something brief during the board meeting,” Munoz said.

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