Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage. These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that. As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as “unceasing,” “grudging,” and “vengeful destruction.”
Outraged members of a New York community are demanding answers after four 12-year-old Black girls were allegedly strip-searched at a middle school last week.
This story has actually received a lot of coverage – BBC News, NBC News, The Daily Beast, USAToday, even Fox News – so you may already have seen it.
Naturally, there are conflicting stories about exactly what happened.
There is agreement that the four girls were removed from class, questioned, and searched, and eventually returned to class, and also that the girls’ parents were not notified of the search before it commenced. However, there is disagreement on what the search actually entailed.
School authorities say there was no strip search.
“When conducting medical evaluation, it may require the removal of bulky outside clothing to expose an arm so that vitals like blood pressure and pulse can be assessed … This is not the same as a strip search.”
The girls, as reported by parents and local activists, however say that a strip search was performed by a nurse and an assistant principal. Specifically,
“The children had their clothing removed and felt shamed, humiliated, and traumatized by [the] experience,” [a local activist group] wrote of the incident, which it claims was triggered by suspicions the students were in possession of drugs. “While they were being searched, a nurse made disparaging comments about the eczema of one girl and the size of another’s breasts.” The organization added that the girls, as well as their parents, believe the school’s “heinous and excessive actions” were racially motivated.
Enough parents were sufficiently concerned for almost 200 people to show up to the next meeting of the Binghampton school board. The president of the local NAACP chapter was asked to, and did, read a list of demands of accountability:
• Stop the practice of strip-searching children for any reason, and especially in response to giddiness or behavioral concerns.
• Removal of the assistant principal and principal at East Middle School for poor judgment, which allegedly resulted in child trauma.
• Remove the nurse who administered the strip searches.
• Publicly apologize to the students, their families and the community at large for violating the trust of all parties harmed by their actions.
• Provide alternate instruction for the girls, at either West Middle School or home instruction, until the situation has been rectified to the satisfaction of the families.
I should mention there is one more point of agreement about the incident, and that is that the girls were traumatized.
Unfortunately, our students shared that these actions have had the unintended consequences of making the students feel traumatized.
Enough concern has been raised that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has called for the State Police to investigate, along with the State Education Department; the State Police have committed to investigating.
What was the reason the incident occurred in the first place? Well, the staff suspected the girls of using and/or carrying drugs. But why? Well, the girls appeared to be “hyper and giddy” during lunch.
I could quote opinions from a number of different sources concerning this criterion, but, you know, as a former twelve-year-old girl myself (albeit a long time ago), I have my own opinion, which is:
OK, twelve year old girls probably should not be hyper and giddy all the time. But if you have twelve year old girls who are NEVER hyper or giddy, especially outside the classroom, THAT’s when you should be worried.
We have read a great deal in the last few years about how black children appear “older,” at least to white people, than their white counterparts (not that sixteen and eighteen year old girls don’t sometimes appear “hyper and giddy” also). But that should not be in effect here, since administrators should know exactly who is enrolled in their school – and in a middle school, it should be twelve year olds.
Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone, please assist with the investigation, and help determine what actually happened. You might also look into whether there is an unnamed teacher or monitor who “reported” the “hyper and giddy” behavior to nurse and/or assistant principal, as I suspect (and on Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, of all days.) Or maybe the nurse and assistant principal DO patrol the lunchroom. Whatever, please help straighten this out. Thank you.
The Furies and I will be back.
Cross posted to Care2 HERE.
