Concord allegations latest in recent wave

Racist hate incidents have been reported in schools across state

Recent allegations of racist abuse in Concord Public Schools follow a rising wave of alleged racist and hateful incidents at Massachusetts schools in recent years.

Hate speech and graffiti and other racist incidents have been reported since 2021 in districts across the state including Concord, Wayland, Danvers, and Quincy. Experts say while the increase in reports of racism at schools is extremely troubling, it is a reflection of a larger problem in society.

“This is a very complicated issue and it’s not isolated by any stretch,” said Tom Scott, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents. “You can go into any school, middle school, high school, and you will find incidents like this that take place. What we do about them is the important piece.”

In the latest incident, a Concord family is demanding accountability from the school district and police after they said their son was the target of racist harassment, including taunts and physical violence while attending Concord Middle School. The family has hired an attorney in response to incidents including their son being slapped and a classmate saying he should be whipped “because he’s Black,” according to the father, Emmy Odunze.

In Concord alone, the Odunzes’ complaints are not unique. In 2021, leaders at Concord-Carlisle High School reported a racist incident involving an image a student included in a class presentation. In 2022, parents of students attending the school through the METCO program, which buses students from Boston to suburban districts, spoke at a School Committee meeting to demand action on racism their children were experiencing. Concord-Carlisle also grappled a decade ago with racist graffiti in the school library.

In the latest case, Odunze described multiple incidents where his son was

targeted. In one, while his son played football with a group of students, a white boy turned to him and called out, “Look, that’s the monkey in the middle,” according to Odunze. A few moments later, while playing with a makeshift whip, the same boy said: “‘Hey, let’s whip [Odunze’s son] because he’s Black,’” he said.

And more than a year ago, Odunze said, a white girl slapped his son across the face on the bus a day after a muchpublicized incident involving Will Smith striking Chris Rock at the Academy Awards. He believes his son was struck because he’s Black.

The school’s principal, Justin Cameron, told him in phone calls that the students who engaged in the racist behavior will be disciplined, though wouldn’t say how, according to Odunze. On Oct. 6, Odunze said, his son spotted the boy who had made the racist slurs in school. When Odunze called Cameron to demand why he was in school after harassing his son, Odunze said, Cameron told him the student was facing in-school suspension.

The Concord school department declined to comment on Globe questions about the accusations.

Schools spokesperson Thomas Lucey said in an emailed statement that the system has “embraced antiracism, inclusion, and belonging [curriculums] and programs for many years.” The statement included links to the school system’s fiveyear strategic plan and a separate plan for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging, and AntiRacism. But Lucey declined to comment about further actions in response to the incidents reported by the Odunzes.

The Concord incidents also follow a series of similar incidents in districts around Massachusetts going back to 2021. Late that year, students at schools including Braintree High School and Milton’s Pierce Middle School staged walkouts to call for action against racism. In May 2022, junior prom was cut short at Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School after one or more students shouted the nword. In December 2022, Quincy High’s principal was targeted with threatening graffiti.

Last spring, parents reported that a Wayland Middle School athlete was called a racist slur by a Sudbury student at a track meet, months after racist graffiti was found targeting Wayland’s superintendent last December.

Sports teams and games also have been the sites of bigotry, whether as part of hazing rituals, play-calling, or as part of racist taunting of opposing players. Danvers Public Schools has been riven with multiple incidents of racism and antisemitism in the last few years, particularly on its sports teams.

Robert Bardwell, executive director of the Massachusetts School Counselors Association, said an important part of addressing racism is teaching antiracist and inclusive lessons in schools, beginning at a young age.

“I’d be asking, ‘What are we doing in kindergarten and second grade to promote an inclusive, supportive, caring school environment, so hopefully these incidents never happen at all,” Bardwell said. Districts must also provide educators training so they can identify and appropriately address racist incidents.

Detris Adelabu, a clinical professor at Boston University’s Wheelock College of Education and Human Development, said it’s also critical to examine school curriculums and programs to ensure they are exposing children to different cultures, and educating students on the hatefulness of certain language and the history behind it.

How school leaders respond to racist incidents is also critical, she said, and students need to see they will take action.