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De Anza High Students Protest Dismissal of Popular Teacher

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By Post staff

About 100 De Anza High School students held a day-long protest and peacefully demonstrated in front of the high school on Mar. 9. The students were part of the high school’s Law Academy program and they demanded that the West Contra Costa School District reverse a decision to fire their teacher.

De Anza’s principal and the West Contra Costa Unified school board decided not to renew the contract of probationary teacher Tahitia Dean, who was the director of the school’s Law Academy.

Under state law, school district’s can fire or layoff teachers during their first two years without giving any reason.

Students say they went to the school board, wrote letters to the principal and school board, but no one listened to their complaints – then officials decided against renewing the Dean’s contract, concerned parents said.

According to students, the announcement that the teacher was not going to be rehired may be tied to an incident that occurred when De Anza students attended a mock trial event in Martinez in February.

The De Anza law academy students’ bus broke down, and when a replacement bus arrived, it smelled strongly of marijuana.

The students felt disrespected. They were upset that that the company would provide them with a bus that was not clean. As might be expected of students who were learning to understand law and their rights, they expressed their concerns in letters to the bus company, the principal and administration.

The announcement of Dean’s termination immediately followed. Dean could not be reached for comment.

Some students and parents think Dean’s lost her job because she encouraged students to speak up for themselves. The students believe had they not said anything, that their instructor would still have a contract, said De Anza parent Jonothan Dumas.

“That was the kids actually wanting to do what they were learning to do in the law academy; which is if you see something that you believe to be wrong that you do something about it, that you put it in writing to the authorities,” he said.

“They did it without prompting,” he said. “They were voicing their frustration over the situation and this happens.”

A spokesman for the West Contra Costa School District told news reproters, “While we value and respect the opinions of our students and parents, the ultimate responsibility for evaluating teachers lies with the principal and the district.”

Congressman Mark DeSaulnier happened to be visiting the school on Monday during the protests and stopped to talk with the students. DeSaulnier could not be reached for comment.

Dumas, whose daughter attends the law academy, said parents are confused because the popular teacher was scheduled to participate in a teaching summer fellowship.

One of the requirements for the fellowship is that Dean needed acknowledgement from school management that her teaching contract was in place and would continue, according to Dumas.

Dean did get that acknowledgement, so the refusal to renew her contract was a surprise, he said.

Education professor Dr. Kitty Kelly Epstein said that the decision to terminate the teacher seemed to contradict the school district’s commitment to excellent teaching.

“The testimonials by parents about the passion for education this teacher has created in their children are inspirational,” said Kelly Epstein. “She gives students new experiences, and she demands the best if them.”

“This is what we’re all looking for in a high school teacher,” she said.

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Activism

In 1974, Then-Gov. Jimmy Carter Visited the Home of Oakland Black Black Political Activist Virtual Murrell While Running for President

civil rights icon Georgia State Representative Julian Bond said that Carter, along with governors Reuben Askew of Florida, Dale Bumpers of Arkansas, and Terry Sanford of North Carolina, were all a part of what was being dubbed the “New South” and so supported civil rights and voting rights for African Americans.

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Virtual Murrell chats with Jimmy Carter two years before Carter was elected president in 1976. Courtesy photo.
Virtual Murrell chats with Jimmy Carter two years before Carter was elected president in 1976. Courtesy photo.

By Virtual T. Murrell
Special to The Post

On his way to seeking the presidency, then-Gov. Jimmy Carter visited the Bay Area in his capacity as campaign chairman of the Democratic National Committee in March of 1974.

A friend of mine, Bill Lynch, a Democrat from San Francisco, had been asked to host Carter, who was then relatively unknown. Seeking my advice on the matter, I immediately called my friend, civil rights icon Georgia State Representative Julian Bond, for his opinion.

Bond said that Carter, along with governors Reuben Askew of Florida, Dale Bumpers of Arkansas, and Terry Sanford of North Carolina, were all a part of what was being dubbed the “New South” and so supported civil rights and voting rights for African Americans.

Based on Julian’s comments, I agreed to host the governor. We picked him up at the San Francisco Airport. With his toothy smile, I could tell almost right away that he was like no other politician I had ever met. On his arrival, there was a message telling him to go to the VIP room, where he met then-Secretary of State Jerry Brown.

After leaving the airport, we went to a reception in his honor at the home of Paul “Red” Fay, who had served as the acting secretary of the Navy under President John Kennedy. (Carter, it turned out, had been himself a 1946 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and served as a submariner in the 1950s.)

The following afternoon, the Niagara Movement Democratic Club hosted a reception for Carter, which was a major success. Carter indicated that he would be considering running for president and hoped for our support if he did so.

As the event was winding down, I witnessed the most amazing moment: Carter’s wife, Rosalynn, was in the kitchen with my former wife, Irene, wearing an apron and busting suds! You would have to have been there to see it: The first and last time a white woman cleaned up my kitchen.

A few months later, President Richard Nixon resigned amid the Watergate scandal. He was succeeded by his vice president, Gerald Ford.

On the heels of that scandal, Jimmy Carter’s election in 1976 represented integrity and honesty at a point in America’s history when he was just what the nation needed to lead as president of the United States.

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Activism

Oakland Post: Week of January 1 – 7, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of January 1 – 7, 2025

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To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

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Activism

Racially Motivated Violence Against Black Teen Prompts $10 Million Claim Against LAUSD 

In December, a second altercation, on a video shared with news media, showed 4 to 6 boys attacking a Black student and using racial slurs. The video also shows a person in a safety vest trying to stop the fight and telling them to “handle it after school.” Then, the video ends.  

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(Left to right) Civil Rights Attorney Caree Harper comforts the victim’s mother as she becomes emotional when describing the attacks on her son while her attorney Bradley C. Gage listens. Verdugo Hills High School on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Tujunga, CA. (Solomon O. Smith /for California Black Media)
(Left to right) Civil Rights Attorney Caree Harper comforts the victim’s mother as she becomes emotional when describing the attacks on her son while her attorney Bradley C. Gage listens. Verdugo Hills High School on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Tujunga, CA. (Solomon O. Smith /for California Black Media)

By Solomon O. Smith, California Black Media  

A distraught mother and her legal team announced a $10 million lawsuit against the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) on Dec. 16, alleging that her son was the target of bullying because of his race.

“CS DOE is a 14-year-old African American student at Verdugo High School. He is a Ninth Grader,” reads a statement the plaintiff’s attorneys shared with California Black Media (CBM).

“Almost from the first day of class (in August 2024), CS DOE was targeted by Latino students who called him racial slurs, physically attacked him and threatened to stab him.”

The family’s identity has not yet been released to the public due to safety concerns, according to their attorneys Bradley C. Gage and Caree Harper. The student’s mother is identified only as A.O. in the complaint.

The first video, filmed in August, showed several non-Black students punching and kicking a Black student in a bathroom on campus while yelling racial slurs. The mother claims that the students who attacked her son were not punished, and the administration asked her to move her son to another school for his safety.

“They wanted him to leave the school without giving any disciplinary action towards those students,” said the student’s mother. “He’s not going anywhere. He’s going to finish. I wanted him to at least stay until the December winter break, and then I was going to transfer schools for him.”

Before she could enroll her son in a different school the attacks escalated.

In December, a second altercation, on a video shared with news media, showed 4 to 6 boys attacking a Black student and using racial slurs. The video also shows a person in a safety vest trying to stop the fight and telling them to “handle it after school.” Then, the video ends.

CS DOE, a 14-year-old freshman, left the school but was followed by a car, according to Gage. Several individuals exited the vehicle, one with a “large butcher knife.” A fight ensued and two people were stabbed. The Black student was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon but was later released into his mother’s custody.

The high school freshmen is scheduled to appear in juvenile court on Feb. 1, but Harper says she will reach out to the District Attorney and make the case against charging the young man.

“His mama had to go find him because he was hiding and fleeing for his very life,” said Harper.

According to the boy’s mother, the young student is still traumatized and has not been able to return to the area because it remains unsafe. Racial slurs have also been spray painted on their home.

“I’m sad. I’m devastated, you know,” said the mother. “I still feel like they’re after him. I still feel like they can kill him, possibly.”

The LAUSD and principal of Verdugo High School did not respond to CBM’s requests for comment.

If you are – or someone you know is – has experienced a hate crime or hate incident, please visit CAvsHate.org for more information and to find out what you can do about it. 

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