Group says Fort Worth ISD creates a hostile culture for Black students. Here are details
A group of Texas ministers called for a federal investigation of the Fort Worth Independent School District on Wednesday for allegedly fostering a hostile environment for Black students.
The Ministers Justice Coalition, which is led by the Rev. Kyev Tatum of Fort Worth and includes several North Texas ministers, believes the district’s culture led to an April incident in which a student was allowed to repeatedly use a racial slur during a class presentation.
In a letter to the U.S. Department of Education, the group says that through disproportionate discipline and lack of integration in advanced programs, Black students experience differential treatment and isolation in the Fort Worth school district.
This isolation has created an environment that breeds misunderstanding and insensitivity, the letter said, and is the background in which incidents like the student presentation involving racial slurs can happen.
School district spokespersons did not respond to requests for comment.
A three-minute video of the April incident shows a student repeatedly using a racial slur during a class presentation of “Romeo and Juliet,” apparently reinterpreting the play during the days of American slavery.
Prior to the presentation, teacher Cindy Zepeda introduced the presentation by telling the class that “the point is not to be offensive. It’s his interpretation.”
Halfway through, Zepeda interrupts the student, saying, “We’re not trying to set this in pre-Civil War. ... We’re trying to stay as true to the original text as possible.”
The student then proceeds with the presentation and continues using racial slurs.
WARNING: This video contains strong language.
After the video went viral, then-Superintendent Kent Scribner recommended that the teacher be fired.
By August, school officials confirmed that she was no longer employed by the district.
In an email obtained by the Star-Telegram, Zepeda said the video was taken out of context. She did not respond to requests by Star-Telegram reporters to explain how the video was taken out of context.
Students said the incident was not a rare occurrence at Paschal, which was about 6% Black, 26% White and 63% Hispanic in 2019.
In Wednesday’s letter, the ministers point to the Education Department’s Civil Rights data to try to demonstrate the hostile environment in the Fort Worth school district.
In 2017, the last year the data was reported, 62.7% of district students were Hispanic, 22.7% were Black, 11% were White, and 1.8% were Asian. But of the students who received out-of-school suspension that school year, 49.8% were Black, 42.4% were Hispanic and 5.4% were white, according to the data.
Of the students who received in-school suspension, 39.6% were Black, 52.4% were Hispanic and 5.6% were white. Of the students who were expelled, 51.1.% were Black, 44.7% were Hispanic and 4.3% were white.
The group also points out that Black students are underrepresented in the district’s acceleration programs.
According to the Education Department’s data, Black students make up 12.1% of the district’s Gifted and Talented programs, 13.9% of Advanced Placement classes and 18.5% of dual-credit classes.
“What we’re doing to these kids is criminal,” Tatum said. “We’re violating their rights to be treated fairly and to be given an opportunity to access programs that can get them out of poverty.”
The group is requesting that the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights open an investigation of the district.
Tatum said the district should go under a federal consent decree to monitor a change of action in the behavior of the school system.
His group is also requesting that the district offer district-wide racial sensitivity training to its teachers and staff as well as provide counseling to students who experience racially offensive moments in the schools.
Tatum said the request makes clear that an investigation is warranted.
“I think that we’ve laid out clearly what’s the causing the failure of Black students in Fort Worth ISD,” he said.
Spokespersons for the U.S. Department of Education could not be immediately reached for comment.
This isn’t the first time Tatum and the district have been at odds.
In 2015, Tatum was ordered to pay the district more than $300,000 in a default judgment involving a student work program that Tatum launched without administrative approval.
This report includes information from the Star-Telegram’s archives.
This story was originally published September 14, 2022 at 5:15 PM.
