27 are arrested in the latest incident between Katrina evacuees and local

[MsUSA]

A brawl that began in the Westbury High School cafeteria Wednesday and spilled outdoors capped weeks of growing tension between Houston students and Hurricane Katrina evacuees and resulted in the arrest of 27 students.

The fight was one of about a dozen such on-campus clashes that have roiled Houston and surrounding areas since thousands of students from New Orleans began attending local schools in September.

In response, Westbury students can expect more police at the school beginning today, a school district spokesman said.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/3510666.html

This is just so sad......

[izzybeans]

1. Ahh. The wonderful sense of community belonging

Apartheid style.

This is sad. But it was predictable. We have a history of taking in folks in need and then kicking them out when that warm fuzzy feeling goes away.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

8. I am not sure where you get "apartheid" from this incident

This school is only about 7% white. It is heavily African American and Hispanic. I am assuming the students involved were also African American, given New Orleans demograhics in the public schools. However, the article did not mention race of any of the kids involved.

It's hard for me to criticize these teachers and staff. Taking a group of traumatized adolescents (some with gang allegiances, perhaps) and plunking them down in an already-running school (one with its share of problems already) is just a very untenable situation for all involved.

We have our share of evacuees in Tallahassee and it is an enormous challenge for everyone, emotionally and financially.

I have no real suggestions for how to do it better. This kind of thing happens in high and middle schools all the time (even without evacuees), in regards to kids from varying ethnicities, socio-economic groups, even gangs.

I think we shouldn't slam Houston too hard. They have born the brunt of this exodus from N.O. It can't be easy for anyone.

[izzybeans]

10. It's an Afrikaan's term that means seperateness.

It's used in more than one way.

In this case. "You ain't from around here are ya boy."

[TallahasseeGrannie]

11. Very well-explained.

Thanks. I was thinking in terms of the "white rule" concept.

[izzybeans]

13. I should have premised it. That certainly is common usage.

I was thinking more of the "not in my backyard" "Big, big, big, picket fences." stuff.

Perhaps I should have just said something like we aren't community minded. Poor choice of wording on my part.

[rodeodance]

2. thanks for this story. I did not know this was going on.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

3. Not surprising. Our war on segregation has met with the same

success as our war on drugs and corporate/government cronyism/corruption.

[RepublicanElephant]

4. are these schools offering any counseling for these kids, many who are...

still suffering from ptsd?

[rodeodance]

5. some details/speculation on how the brawl started. 'girl' and 'boy"

.Houston Independent School District Board President Dianne Johnson said the efforts would not end there and sought to assure parents that student safety is "our No. 1 priority."

"I feel certain that the administration is going to look into this," she said. "We're certainly going to take whatever steps it takes to make sure that students are safe when they attend school."

The fight Wednesday was sparked, students said, when a girl made a gang sign in or near the cafeteria and a boy loudly cursed New Orleans. It quickly spread to other areas of campus and then outdoors.

HISD spokesman Terry Abbott said he could not confirm how the fight started, saying the details are under investigation. He said he understood it had begun in the cafeteria as a fight between girls.

One minor injury.....

[rodeodance]

6. charged with engaging in a riot, also and adult female was involved.

One student suffered a minor cut to the eye, Abbott said. No other injuries were reported.

Westbury, in southwest Houston, has nearly 2,500 students, including 300 from Louisiana. Fifteen of those arrested after Wednesday's brawl were Katrina evacuees, said HISD spokeswoman Adriana Villareal. Eighteen were juveniles.

The juveniles were released to their parents. The remaining students were taken to a jail in southeast Houston, she said.

All were charged with engaging in a riot, and an adult female from Houston faces a charge of assaulting a police officer, officials said. The charges are misdemeanors, and no weapons were involved, Abbott said.

[rodeodance]

7. Profanities litter the door.

.Some New Orleans students said they represent a clear minority in the school and are being unfairly targeted.

"Altercations have been happening, but it never got down to this," said an 18-year-old.

Graffiti scrawled on the door of a girls restroom seems to mark the built-up tensions.

On the door's center, "New Orleans Takin' Over," is crossed out. Nearby, "H-town forever!" is scrawled. The phrase "Go home" is answered with a crude "no." Profanities litter the door.......

[Leilani]

9. Gang Violence?

Call for Tookie!!!!

He's done such a fine job saving our youth.

[Wind Dancer]

12. This is not surprising!

These kids have been through such trauma and now feel unwelcomed in their new community. Racism is alive and well in this country.

I hope there are psychologists at the schools and not just law enforcement.