Trump Watch: Swatiskas, Slurs, Hate Epic Rise in Our Schools

The Southern Poverty Law Center has documented an alarming rise in hate crimes and language in our schools post-Trump. These incidents appear in The Trump Effect, just published by the SPLC. Read them and support A Thousand Moms' new publishing effort, Healing the Brain.

“Since the election, every single secondary school in our district has had issues with racist, xenophobic or misogynistic comments cropping up. In the week since the election, I have personally had to deal with the following issues: 1) Boys inappropriately grabbing and touching girls, even after they said no (this never happened until after the election); 2) White students telling their friends who are Hispanic or of color that their parents are going to be deported and that they would be thrown out of school; 3) White students going up to students of color who are total strangers and hurling racial remarks at them, such as, ‘Trump is going [to] throw you back over the wall, you know?’ or ‘We can’t wait until you and the other brownies are gone’; 4) The use of the n-word by white students in my class and in the hallway. Never directed towards a student of color (that I’ve been told yet), but still being casually used in conversation.” — MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHER, INDIANA

“The slurs have been written on assignments. ‘Send the Muslims back because they are responsible for 9/11.’” — HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER, MINNESOTA

"’I hate Muslims.’ (Student blurted this while the class was learning about major religions.)” — MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHER, WASHINGTON

“I’ve had a lot of students repeat the phrase ‘Trump that bitch’ in my class, and make jokes about Hispanic students ‘going back to Mexico.’” — HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER, GEORGIA

“A proud proclamation of racism was made by a student after the election: ‘Bet those black people are really scared now.’” — HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER, MICHIGAN

“White males have been overheard saying, ‘screw women’s rights, fag lover liberal, build the wall, lock her up.’ The rebel flag is draped on the truck of a popular student, and the p-word has been used very casually, citing Trump as the excuse.” — HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER, MICHIGAN

“Kids saying, ‘Trump won, you’re going back to Mexico!’ Boys grabbing girls, cornering girls against lockers. Kids yelling, ‘Trump won, so [there will] be less people here soon.’” — HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER, KANSAS

“Today I photographed vandalism in the boy’s bathroom that mentioned a specific black student (1 of 7 in a school of 200). It repeatedly mentioned the KKK, used the n-word and joining Jews. A student drew a swastika on my board a few days ago. A black female ran out of a room crying after being racially harassed by multiple students during two different classes. One student … reported asking two different Latina students if they were ready to move back to Mexico now that Trump is president. I have witnessed an increase in racist and sexist jokes by students who support Trump. I personally spent most of the day putting out fires related to these issues, including documenting and reporting them. Multiple white males also expressed anger over the school wanting to post signs stating we are a sanctuary school.” — HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER, OREGON

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Schools Post-Trump: Slurs, Trauma, and Tension

The Southern Poverty Law Center has conducted an extensive survey of school tensions and climates after the election of Trump. Find out how stress and trauma impedes learning and leaves emotional scars in Healing the Brain, our new book.

In the first days after the 2016 presidential election, the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Teaching Tolerance project administered an online survey to K–12 educators from across the country. Over 10,000 teachers, counselors, administrators and others who work in schools have responded. The survey data indicate that the results of the election are having a profoundly negative impact on schools and students.

Schools In The Aftermath: Targeting, Trauma, and Tension

The election of Donald Trump is having a major impact on American schools, but how students are affected — and how educators are addressing the impact — depends largely on demographics. American schools are increasingly segregated along racial, ethnic and economic lines. Although individual experiences will vary, looking at the proportion of students who are African American, Hispanic and white is a generally dependable indicator of what each school is experiencing, regardless of whether it is located in a red or a blue state. We found that how a school reacted ultimately depended on whether it is a white-majority school, a "minority-majority" school, or a diverse school with no single group in the majority. This is a generalization, of course, and there are exceptions, which we discuss later.
Overall, our public schools serve mainly low-income students of color. But students are not evenly distributed among schools. Here are a few important facts:

• Total number of public schools: 98,454
  
• Percentage of students who are from low-income families: 51
  
• Percentage of students who are Hispanic: 25
  
• Percentage of students who are African American: 16
  
• Percentage of students who are students of color: 50
  
• Percentage of schools that are 70% or more minority: 26
  
• Percentage of schools that are 70% or more white: 42
  
• Percentage of schools with less than 70% of one racial group: 32
  

TARGETING AND RACIAL BIAS
The increase in targeting and harassment that began in the spring has, according to the teachers we surveyed, skyrocketed. It was most frequently reported by educators in schools with a majority of white students.
The behavior is directed against immigrants, Muslims, girls, LGBT students, kids with disabilities and anyone who was on the “wrong” side of the election. It ranges from frightening displays of white power to remarks that are passed off as “jokes.”
Here’s a small sampling of the thousands of stories teachers told us that illustrate post-election targeting.
“A group of white students held up a Confederate flag during the pledge of allegiance at a school-wide assembly.” — HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELOR, ARIZONA
“Since the election, every single secondary school in our district has had issues with racist, xenophobic or misogynistic comments cropping up. In the week since the election, I have personally had to deal with the following issues: 1) Boys inappropriately grabbing and touching girls, even after they said no (this never happened until after the election); 2) White students telling their friends who are Hispanic or of color that their parents are going to be deported and that they would be thrown out of school; 3) White students going up to students of color who are total strangers and hurling racial remarks at them, such as, ‘Trump is going [to] throw you back over the wall, you know?’ or ‘We can’t wait until you and the other brownies are gone’; 4) The use of the n-word by white students in my class and in the hallway. Never directed towards a student of color (that I’ve been told yet), but still being casually used in conversation.” — MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHER, INDIANA
“The slurs have been written on assignments. ‘Send the Muslims back because they are responsible for 9/11.’” — HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER, MINNESOTA
“’I hate Muslims.’ (Student blurted this while the class was learning about major religions.)” — MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHER, WASHINGTON

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Gay youth need support post-Trump

What's a gay youth to do faced by an increasingly hostile social environment brought on by the Trump election? The Southern Poverty Law Center has documented a rise in hate crimes against all minorities since the election and the LGBT community is included. We look at how gay youth can find a supportive hand in this climate in our new book, Healing the Brain.

Finding Support

Coming out is one of the most stressful periods in a gay teen's life.

In a best-case scenario, the teen's parents might have suspected their teen's sexual orientation, and are happy and accepting of the declaration. But in the worst case, the teen's parents might cut off financial support, reject the teen, and kick him or her out of the household.

In “Homophobic Teasing, Psychological Outcomes, and Sexual Orientation Among High School Students: What Influence Do Parents and Schools Have?” published in The School Psychology Review, anti-gay teasing was found to have negative mental health outcomes in gay teenagers who lack supportive school and home environments. Researchers Dorothy L. Esperage and others examined 13,921 high school teenagers, of whom 932 were “questioning” their sexuality, and an additional 1,065 identified themselves as homosexuals.

While all teenagers will experience negative outcomes when parents are unsupportive, for gay teenagers, this effect can be particularly strong, leading to greater instances of depression. The study stated that questioning and openly homosexual students were more likely to report depression, suicide attempts, and drug use when their parents rejected their sexuality.

But gay students who received support were less likely to report these negative outcomes, even if they experienced victimization in school environments. Family acceptance of homosexuality led to higher self-esteem, more support against victimization, and reduced depression among the participants. Since each family scenario differs on a case-by-case basis, the teen should decide if coming out to his or her parents would cause more harm than good. If so, the teen must identify individuals in the teen's life who will be accepting and supportive of the teen's decision to come out. For some teenagers, this might be an aunt, uncle, or sibling, while others find support in school counselors or close friends.

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