CONCORD, California – A high school divided students by ethnicity for separate pep talks on boosting test scores, offering jazz music for black students and flags of Asian students' native countries, according to a media report.
Mount Diablo High School also held separate assemblies Friday for white and Hispanic students, stirring accusations of segregation from some students' parents in this San Francisco Bay area city.
"In this country, everybody is supposed to be treated equally. It sounds like racism to me," Filipino parent Claddy Dennis, told the Contra Costa Times.
Principal Bev Hansen told the newspaper she held the divided student assemblies this year and last year to avoid one ethnic group harassing another based on their test scores, arguing that the state has long reported test results based on race.
"In this country, race is a very uncomfortable topic, and it's time we got over it," Hansen said.
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