In yet another hate crime hoax, two black female students wrote a racist slur on the wall of a high school in Sacramento, California – a move that prompted school officials to condemn the act before learning the culprits weren’t white.
School officials told the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office on March 22 that they had discovered someone had written “all [n-word] should die” in pencil on a hallway wall at Rosemont High School.
After the writing was discovered, the Sacramento Unified School District Superintendent Jorge Aguilar released a statement condemning the incident, before any suspects had been identified or evidence collected.
“Sac City Unified does not take any incident of racism lightly, and that is why we are widely sharing that another act of disgraceful racist graffiti has taken place in our schools,” Aguliar said, according to ABC 10. “As a community, we need to loudly condemn this hateful act. Racist incidents will not be tolerated in our schools.”
Surveillance footage shows two black females clearly writing the messages on the wall, and even though the hoax caused outrage over alleged racism, it looks like perpetrators will face little, if any punishment. Had the perpetrators been white, they likely would have faced more severe punishment. The Sheriff’s office told ABC 10 that the graffiti caused minimal damage to the wall and that it would consult with the District Attorney’s Office regarding any criminal charges.
ABC 10 noted other incidents of alleged racism on campus, in one instance failing to report that it had also been a hoax. The Daily Wire reported in February that a black student wrote racist graffiti above a water fountain at C.K. McClatchy High School. Just as in the recent incident, Superintendent Aguilar condemned the act before the facts were known.
“I am both angry and heartsick that racist graffiti was discovered on the C. K. McClatchy campus today. We take this incident very seriously. Racism and racist language will not be tolerated in our schools,” Aguilar said at the time.
The Sacramento Bee reported at the time that the SCUSD was investigating racist graffiti written over a water fountain at C.K. McClatchy High School, noting that the message was a throwback to segregation. The perpetrator wrote “colored” over one side of a dual-water fountain and “white” over the other. After a picture of the graffiti spread over social media, activists quickly expressed outrage, even though most instances of alleged hate messages in schools have turned out to be hoaxes perpetrated by students of color.
Two 14-year-olds were also accused of writing racist messages at a Sacramento elementary school. The two students attended George Washington Carver High School. The race of the two students has not been reported, though the reaction from school officials appears to suggest the students weren’t white.
“While the identification of those involved provides some closure, the impact of racist acts leaves lasting hurt for our students, staff and community,” Aguilar said of this incident. “Sac City Unified will continue to support our students, staff and families at Lincoln Elementary in the wake of this incident, and work with our entire community to interrupt and address racism. We are committed to building an equitable and positive culture and climate that supports success for all students at every school in our district.”