California School Official Calls Racist Vandalism ‘Prank That Went Sideways’ After Black Student Confesses

A black female high school student has fessed up to writing racist graffiti over two drinking fountains at her school in the Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD). A community liaison for the district said the incident was “a prank that went sideways.”

The student admitted to scribbling “colored” over one drinking fountain and writing “white” above an adjacent fountain at McClatchy High School, SCUSD Community Liaison Mark Harris told KOVR. The district launched an investigation into the incident February 11 after the graffiti was discovered, the SCUSD said in a release.

Last month, the school district appointed Harris as the community liaison to “advise and help the district address instances of racism, and improve on equity, social justice and civil rights,” a January 19 school district press release states.

He told KOVR he does not regard the incident as racism, partly because the student is black.

“I don’t believe those words that were on those water fountains were racist,” Harris said. “I do not believe they were hate crime or hate speech. Part of it quite honestly is because the admitted perpetrator is a young African American woman.”

“I’ve been practicing law for 40 years, people typically don’t confess to things they didn’t do, unless they’re under duress or coercion. And nobody has claimed that; not her, not her family,” Harris told reporters at a press conference outside the school Thursday, according to the Sacramento Bee. He noted video corroborates the confession.

The student is a minor, “and appropriate disciplinary action is being taken by district,” the SCUSD said.

“It was a prank that went sideways is my characterization of what the young woman said in her confession,” Harris said at the press conference, per the Sacramento Bee. “It should be a moment for our community to come together and make sure this doesn’t destroy this person’s life.”

President Betty Williams of the Greater Sacramento NAACP compared the week-long investigation that culminated in the confession of the black student with another instance of racist graffiti at a different school in the district, that has been ongoing since...

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