Back to School: We Cannot Rest
When we began the Bettering Our School System (BOSS) campaign, even on the heels of several murders by Oakland policing organizations, there was strong opposition to moving police out of schools. While some people were comfortable addressing Black male achievement and even acknowledging disparities in suspensions, not many people were willing to have critical conversations about criminalization of Black youth and the role of policing in schools. Because of the relentless organizing of groups across the country people have begun to connect the dots of schools and prisons. Thanks to the voices of community members that won’t be silenced, we have made progress in the language that we use, particularly around school discipline.
Locally and nationally we have adopted policies that began to chip away at the unprecedented militarization of schools. However, there is so much work to be done. While there are a lot of good things being presented at school board meetings that highlight the district’s commitment to changing school climate and moving to racial justice, we need to move from power points to actual practice.
BOP received a call from a parent of a student in OUSD who is familiar with the policy work BOP has won in the district. She is familiar with our current victory that limits the role of school police and points out that the OUSD shall abide by Education Code Section 48906, which requires that a school official must make immediate parental/guardian notification upon police arrest of a student, excepting when the child is taken into custody as a suspected victim of child abuse or pursuant to Section 305 of the Welfare & Institutions Code.She and her son are processing a very traumatic experience. She held her tears back so she could tell the story of how her son was treated by the OUSD school police department and the Oakland Police Department. She was even more frustrated because no one from the school contacted her before her son was hauled off and detained in a location that no one would share with her. She knew other young Black men this had also happened to whose parents were unaware of their rights. Hauled and detained in an unknown location. What if that were your child, my child, our child? The fear and trauma that happens to Black families at the hands of police and a complacent school system can never become normal or acceptable.
This school year, BOP will work to ensure that parents and students are not only informed about their rights but can have a collective space to hold the district accountable to treat Black parents and students with dignity and respect. While many of our school board members articulate progressive politics, few of them are willing to take a hard stand against over policing. Several elected officials in Oakland have stood in front cameras or on social media supporting the phrase “Black Lives Matter”. However the practice of using their power and position to protect Black lives in Oakland schools is often limited by their attachment to protecting the police.
We are tired of sound bites and rhetoric. We want real change in Oakland Schools that involves consistent investment in positive school climate, disinvestment in policing and real transformation.
Until the killing of Black men, Black mothers’ sons, becomes as important to the rest of the country as the killing of a White mother’s son—we who believe in freedom cannot rest until this happens.
–Ella Baker