Berkeley students protest after KKK lynching message appears on campus

Berkeley High School, where a racist message threatening violence against African Americans was found on a library computer on November 4.

The pictures, which featured an anti-black racist slur and a threat of a “KKK Forever Public Lynching” on December 9, were found on a computer inside the school’s library on Wednesday.

Outraged, the Black Student Union at Berkeley High called for a rally, and on Thursday morning, close to 1,000 students this morning. “The administration is looking into who posted this message and I urge students, staff, parents and guardians to please contact the school at 510-644-6121 if you have any information about this matter”.

District officials told the local San Francisco Chronicle newspaper that the image seemed to be a screen shot of the school’s library home page which had been modified to include the racist language.

“I think this post is disgusting”, she said. “We did probe the student’s motive, and my sense is that the motive in writing these comments was not to actually carry them out”.

“This is a hate crime and messages such as this one will not stand in our community”, Pasarow wrote in his letter, adding that both Berkeley High School and Berkeley police were actively investigating the incident.

After the rally, the students began to march, first stopping by Berkeley’s old City Hall and then to the famed Sprout Hall, a location on the University of California-Berkeley’s campus that has been a frequent site of protests and rallies.

Most of the students returned to class after the protest, he said.

Students also pointed out that a noose was discovered on the campus past year, which Vice Principal Jorge Melgoza described as an “act of hate”, and said it was “a clear and stark reminder that racism is alive and well in this country”.

According to Berkeleyside, police estimated the size of the crowd at around 700 students.

“In the past acts of terror committed against the black student body have been ignored”, the group said in a statement. “We are working hard to create a positive and inclusive school culture, and we recognize the deep pain and rage that hate crimes such as this one bring to our students of color, as well as the damaging effects on our entire community”.

“They are really afraid because they have been threatened by this message”, said Mark Coplan, a spokesman for the Berkeley Unified School District.