An eighth-grade boy’s family is devastated after discovering the child was the victim of a racist stunt in which he was forced to reenact the death of George Floyd.
His parents are appalled by how the school district responded to the incident.
According to Oregon Live, the incident happened on Jan. 20, 2023, at West Sylvan Middle School. The boy’s third-period teacher granted him the hall pass to drink water from the hallway’s water fountain. A few of the unnamed minor’s acquaintances were also in the hallway (some without hall passes.
That’s when two students grabbed the boy and placed him against the wall to pretend they were putting him in handcuffs.
“And from there, the students were acting like they were police officers, saying that they were going to turn off their chest camera,” Raheem Alexzander, the boy’s father, said. “They put him on the ground, face down. One of the kids had a hall pass on a lanyard and proceeded to tie his hands behind his back. One put their knee on my son’s back and told him that he was going to wait 20 seconds.”
Alexzander continued, “They were acting as if my son was George Floyd, waiting for him to die.”
Other students watched the attack, while one student from a nearby classroom helped Alexzander’s son. The eighth-grader returned to class and informed his teacher and West Sylvan administrators about the racial act.
When the boy’s parents heard about the incident, they were heartbroken while hearing the details from their son.
The “doing the George Floyd” act stemmed from the 2020 death of Floyd, who died from former police officer Derek Chauvin placing his knee on his neck, obstructing his airway, ultimately killing him.
Christyn McCloskey, a secondary schools area senior director, emailed Alexzander and the child’s mother, Angela Canton, about the incident, apologizing and expressing that she was “outraged” upon hearing it.
“I want to assure you that (West Sylvan Middle School) and PPS take this and all hate-based incidents very seriously,” McCloskey’s email read.
Canton and Alexzander wanted the school district to release a statement to families districtwide without revealing any of the students’ names, especially since whites make up 57% of Portland Public Schools’ demographic and 8.7% are Black.
Unfortunately, officials informed the victim’s parents that they wouldn’t notify the parents in the district because the incident’s investigation was ongoing. They also said a public statement would violate the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act — even though names wouldn’t be released.
Oregon Live received a statement from a spokesperson for the school district stating that PPS “stands firmly against any hateful acts in our schools or community.” They weren’t able to give further details due to the ongoing investigation.
West Sylvan Principal Jill Hunt decided to release a statement only to the families of the middle school’s students, informing them of the “hate-based incident.”
“We have investigated this incident between students and are ensuring that hte students involved in creating the harm receive appropriate disciplinary action,” the statement read. “Our school team and the PPS District Hate-Based Response Team leaders are working alongside our families to respond to this incident and support those involved in the racial harm. The counseling team will be working with student groups on anti-racist lessons throughout the coming months.”
Alexzander and Canton want more done to ensure something like this wouldn’t happen to any other Black child. Without a released statement to families districtwide, families won’t know racial actions are occurring in an institution that’s supposed to be safe and equal, and they won’t know to teach their children about racism and how to respond.
