[BHS Etree] ADMIN: Racist Social Media Posts - non-BHS Student

[BHS Etree]

Good afternoon BHS students, families, and staff,


I am writing to let you know that our admin team is aware that there are at least two recent posts on some social media platforms from an individual that has been incorrectly identified as a current Berkeley High School student. In the video posts, the person says a number of overtly racist, inflammatory statements, directed specifically at African Americans. I am purposefully not linking to the posts in this message, as I refuse to spread these sentiments even more widely, and I trust that our community will understand that decision.


While we are obviously very limited in our ability to respond given that this person is an adult and a non-student, I am writing this message to our community for a few reasons. I want our students and families to know that we are aware of the video, but more importantly that we know that even though this is not a student of ours, the statements have the very real power to cause harm, to reopen wounds based on past events, and to cause students to feel unsafe and upset in general. I want our staff to know that many students will likely be talking about having seen this video, will be upset, and will want to talk about it. Staff, please reach out to an administrator if you have questions about how best to deal with and process this with your students; we are all available for support.

Thank you for reading this message,


Erin Schweng

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Marguerite Fa-Kaji, Jenny Fosket, and Dylan Kaufman are the parent-volunteer facilitators of the Etree; please direct any questions about the Etree to them at bhs-owner at lmi.net<mailto:bhs-owner at lmi.net>.


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BUSD Non-Discrimination Statement / la Política de No Discriminación: http://bit.ly/BUSDNDPolicy


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