SALINAS — There were four hours of public comment at the Salinas Unified High School District’s regular board meeting Tuesday night as the scheduled agenda was eclipsed by impassioned discourse, protest, and appeal concerning the racist incident at Salinas High School that has incited community uproar both on and offline.
Some 34 students from nearly every high school in the district spoke. Nearly 20 parents, educators, coaches and alumni stood at the podium, more in the audience itching to talk. Hundreds watched in person while over a thousand viewers tuned in via livestream.
This past weekend, “disturbing images and videos” of Salinas High School students abusing a Black baby doll named “Shaniqua” began circulating on social media. The doll was reportedly altered to fit racial stereotypes, including lips painted to look larger, added facial tattoos and a drawn-on ankle monitor.
As one speaker characterized it, “Somebody doesn’t just wake up in the morning, get a Black baby doll, remove their clothes, objectify them, and name them Shaniqua.”
In a now-deactivated Instagram account devoted to the doll, Salinas High students are seen posing with “Shaniqua.” Awareness of the account became widespread following Salinas High School’s football jamboree Friday night, where students said the doll was passed around.
“Was there not a way to show your school spirit without the inclusion of racism?” one person who identified themselves as Salinas High senior asked the board. “My friends and I are tired of being the punchline to your jokes. To hell with your consistent racism and intolerance.”
While SUHSD and Salinas High School released statements regarding the incident and their ongoing investigations into the matter Monday, Tuesday’s meeting became a place for Salinas residents to plead with the school board to listen, learn and act.
“Shaniqua was a symbol of hatred,” North Salinas High School senior Jaelyn Sanders told the board. “They proudly displayed the doll as a token of school pride in which Salinas High shared with the world how much disrespect they have towards the Black community.
“This doll was abused and sexualized. The students from Salinas High ran it over with a car, stomped on it and humiliated it,” she continued. “You may be thinking, ‘Why does this so deeply affect me and my peers?’ I once looked like that doll. My children will one day look like that doll. And my family and my friends look like that doll.”
Board members recognized the severity of the matter at hand. At the start of the meeting, board president Phillip Tabera issued a formal apology on behalf of the governing body toward members of the African American community who have been impacted by the actions of students in the district.
SUHSD Superintendent Dan Burns expanded on a statement he made Monday, asserting that consequences for those involved in the racist incident may include suspension from school, removal from extra-curricular activities such as athletics and ASB, and mandatory attendance in restorative justice and healing sessions.
Burns added that a legal investigation into staff involvement and other allegations of racism at Salinas High will extend into next week.
Apart from consequences, Burns explained that the students and staff throughout the district will be trained, take accountability, recognize implicit biases and restore damage that has been done in the community.
“I am appalled by the blatant disregard for the basic premise that this type of behavior is unacceptable by those that have contacted us to say that kids will be kids,” said Burns. “This is not an acceptable excuse.”
But apologies, training and possible punishments were not enough for the crowd. They called for recognition, education and respect.
“As for the students who claim they did not know any better, this should be a wake-up call to our educational system,” said Sanders. “We can and need to do better about educating our youth on topics such as racism and not the watered-down version.”
Echoing his cousin, Charles Sanders, a North Salinas High senior football player who was hurt in Friday’s scrimmage, conveyed how the doll operated as an affront to him and his community.
“The Black doll cannot be described as anything else but a hate crime,” he said. “…The doll was passed around the Salinas High campus in the halls in the parking lot and the stadium. This makes me question how many teachers and staff were unaware of the doll and condoned it?”
Sanders described the doll like it was a symptom of a larger problem, explaining how the events of last Friday were a sign that students didn’t recognize or understand his African American roots.
“Some of the Salinas High students shared with me that they did not know what the doll represented but continued to follow, like and even comment on the doll’s page,” he explained to the board. “This means the school is not doing a good job to teach the history of my culture and many more…We are reliving history because it is not being taught.”
As the evening progressed and minutes of public comment turned to hours, it became increasingly clear that students and adults alike had more to speak on than the doll incident alone.
Several remarks were made concerning an allegation made on Twitter that Salinas High principal Elizabeth Duethman made insensitive comments toward Hispanic students from Alisal High before Friday’s scrimmage began. Duethman “categorically (denied) the accusation” in a statement made on Monday, but discussion over the matter continued into Tuesday’s meeting.
Sienna Zuniga, an Alisal High student who originated the accusation, addressed the board to clarify the intention of the message she tweeted on Sunday in which she reported Duethman describing the decorations delineating Alisal High’s student section for the jamboree as a “border wall.”
“My message was not one to call into question the principal’s integrity as stated in the principal’s letter sent out to parents (on Monday),” she said. “At no time did I ever call her racist, but her lack of empathy and poor choice of words…was disturbing to me and the other students present.”
Though Duethman has refuted making any such comments, further investigation into the allegation is forthcoming, said Burns. Duethman will also not be present at Salinas High next week.
Going beyond the jamboree, speakers repeatedly explained that they were not surprised by what happened Friday night, pointing toward what they feel is a broader problem with the culture at Salinas High.
“It’s not just the Friday jamboree,” said an individual who identified themselves as an Alisal High senior who attended Salinas High School for two years. “It’s Monday when I go to school and I hear the N-word in the hallways. It’s Tuesday when in my math class, they won’t listen to my opinion because apparently, Latinas don’t know math.”
Parents and alumni parroted the students, recalling moments when they felt subjugated by the community. Vanessa Robinson, a local educator who was born and raised in Salinas described hearing racial slurs and facing discrimination all through her education in SUHSD, sentiments she says followed her as she moved on from high school.“All of that followed me to my recent city council race, where I was told, ‘Maybe Salinas isn’t ready for a Black woman to lead,’” she said.
“I need you to understand that this trajectory starts in your schools.”
In the wake of the incident at the football jamboree, Salinas’ scheduled home football opener has been moved to Half Moon Bay on Friday, for a 7 p.m. varsity start. The stadium will be open to just family and athletes.
A video of the meeting can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7k7IkibqII
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