Earlier this morning on Friday, January 13, a tweet was published with photos that featured two Buena High School sophomores on Buena’s campus. These photos were edited to display racist images.
The photos were posted with the message: “Hey @BuenaHighspirit are you ok with students on ur water polo team being extremely racist on school grounds and proudly sharing the images?”
The user who posted the photos claims to be under the impression that the school administration wouldn’t take action against the photos unless they were public.
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Principal Bobbi Powers of Buena High School addressed the issue in a phone call that went to all Buena families.
“Dear Buena families, this is Principal Bobbi Powers. Today it came to my attention that racist images shared via social media by two Buena students. While the inappropriate images feature Buena students and were taken at Buena High School, the images and what they symbolize in no way reflect the opinion, spirit or philosophy of our school or school district. Rest assured anything to do with racism or discrimination of any type will not be tolerated. Appropriate disciplinary action was quickly taken against the students involved. On the crest of this three day weekend, celebrating the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. please take the time to discuss with your child the importance of respected every person regardless of their race, religion, gender or other characteristics. Buena will continue to be a school where all students are accepted, respected and feel safe. Thank you and enjoy your weekend.”
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Ventura Unified School District Superintendent Michael Babb sent a similar email to all Ventura Unified staff.
“Colleagues,
Today, it came to my attention that racist images had been shared via social media by two VUSD students. While the inappropriate images featured Buena students and were taken at Buena High School, the images and what they symbolize in no way reflect the opinions, spirit or philosophy of our schools or school district.
Please know that messages promoting racism or discrimination of any type is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.
On the crest of this three day weekend celebrating the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr, I wish to express my full commitment to a district and a world where all people are accepted, respected, and safe.
Thank you,
Michael Babb”
Editor’s Note: The Foothill Dragon Press is a public forum, and comments and Letters to the Editor are always welcome. However, as per our comment policy, any offensive or overly profane statement, or any that are deemed a personal attack, will be deleted.
A previous version of this article contained the names of the students in the photos and the original tweet. The names were removed at 8:24 p.m. on Jan. 13 and the embedded tweet was replaced with blurred versions of the images at 3:52 p.m. on Jan. 19.