Hillcrest Students Give Demands After Walkout Over Black History Program Censorship

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Students at Hillcrest High School staged a walkout on Wednesday reportedly after they were told to censor parts of a Black History Month program relating to slavery and civil rights. Following the walkout, students also expressed their demands of the county school system, while threatening to rally if their concerns are not considered.

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Hillcrest High officials declined to offer comment when contacted by Patch and the Tuscaloosa County School System central office has yet to release an official statement following Wednesday's walkout.

As our news partners at WVUA 23 previously reported, the Tuscaloosa chapter of the NAACP met with students, parents and staff at Hillcrest High School Monday morning after students said they’d been told by administrators that the school's Black History Month program couldn’t reference anything that happened before the 1970s.

This prompted extensive dialogue in the community, with the NAACP hosting two separate meetings to allow students to have their voices heard.

Tuscaloosa NAACP President Lisa Young told Patch that the walkout was a decision made by the students, but the NAACP and other community members felt it necessary to support them in their efforts.

She then mentioned a forum held on Saturday for students to air their grievances, going on to say that some accounts given by students were disturbing.

"I'm inclined to believe that the administration at the school has allowed a culture of racial insensitivity that has created a toxic learning environment for students," Young said. "It appears that community leaders are being told one thing, while students are being told something entirely different. There are too many students saying the same thing for it to be untrue. The students walked out to bring awareness to issues that they feel that the administration is ignoring."

Amid the controversy over the Black History Program, Hillcrest senior Jamiya Brown reportedly spoke to the student body and mentioned "next steps" following the walkout, including:

An immediate meeting with Superintendent Keri Johnson and all members of the Tuscaloosa County Board of Education

During this meeting, the leaders would be asked to listen to grievances from students and relate what kind of policies are in place to address them.

"The members of the County Board of Education are elected officials who should serve in the capacity of advocacy for the students and parents within their respective districts, and we want them to do their job," Brown said.

A more diverse administration at Hillcrest High School that is representative of its student body.

While Hillcrest High School's student population is 55% Black, organizers and students point out that all the administrators are White. They argue that with an administration whose composition resembles that of the student body, there exists the possibility of reducing the occurrence of racial insensitive incidents in the school.

Freedom of expression without interference from our assistant principal as it relates to Black History Program.

Brown said creative content should be the sole expression of the students without being told what might be offensive by someone who lacks the historical knowledge to understand the culture and the symbolic meaning of some of the expressions.

"The Black History Program is performed as a tribute to how far Blacks have come in America and the barriers we faced as we progressed as a people," Brown said. "I've never heard anyone telling the Jewish people not to discuss the events that occurred during the Holocaust, so we should be free to educate others about the obstacles Blacks faced when we came to this country."

Assurance that all students receive fair and just due process, before having any punitive measures levied against them by any teacher or administrator.

Students demand that no student should have to deal with being punished for an incident that has not occurred.

Assurance that all students will be treated equally by administration.

Organizers argue that no one student's word should carry more weight than another student without supporting proof of an allegation, regardless of who the student's parents are and their role with the Tuscaloosa County Schools and Board.

Brown said if the aforementioned concerns are not addressed, a rally will be held on Feb. 14 in opposition to the property tax referendum on the ballot that day that, if passed, would see additional funding allocated for the Tuscaloosa County School System.

What's more, Brown said during the next election cycle, students and organizers will find candidates to run against the currently elected county school board, with efforts focused on replacing them with "people that care about all students within the county school system, and not those that just look like them."

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