Town hall meeting over racism allegations at HISD’s Bellaire High brings out divided crowd

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About 50 people gathered at a town hall Tuesday to discuss recent allegations of racism at Houston ISD’s Bellaire High School with several calling for firings, while others urged trust in the district’s investigative process.

Multiple attendees demanded the removal of the school’s baseball coach during the roughly hour-long gathering hosted by the Houston NAACP in the wake of a series of accusations surrounding the campus and its baseball team. The whirlwind of accusations began, at least in part, last month with a post on social media claiming players of the baseball team made monkey sounds and lobbed racial epithets when a Black player from opposing Westbury High School took the mound during a game.

Amelia Robinson, PTO and booster club president for the Westbury team, said she did not hear any concussion that allegedly came from players in Bellaire’s dugout during the March 25 game, which she attended. She did, however, recall hearing the Westbury coach telling the opposing team’s dugout to be quiet.

Following the game, Robinson told the room Tuesday at the Jewish Community Center almost equidistant from both campuses, she noticed her son was very upset. She asked him what was wrong. He told her that he had heard the monkey sounds from the outfield.

“As a parent, I just want the situation to be dealt with correctly,” Robinson said, asking for an apology. “They need to understand that their actions that they did really affect our kids.”

On HoustonChronicle.com: 2 Bellaire baseball team coaches reassigned over racism allegations as Houston ISD investigates

That game and the social media post renewed attention to an incident earlier this year in which a Black student was told to cut his hair, which he wore in an afro, by the same coach in order to play baseball.

Erica Rhone, the boy’s mother, also attended Tuesday’s forum with her attorney. The district reopened an investigation into the incident after the latest controversy.

“My son’s civil rights were violated,” Rhone told the room.

HISD officials previously said coach Nick Ozuna and assistant Robert Manuel had been reassigned while investigators conducted their probes. Superintendent Millard House II attended Tuesday’s town hall, as well as Trustee Myrna Guidry, whose district includes Westbury.

Both sat in the front row, listening.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Houston ISD is investigating reported beating, bullying at Bellaire High School

The most contentious part of the event occurred about 50 minutes in when a pair of educators asked if there were any parents of Bellaire students who were in attendance and could offer their perspective as most of the speakers until that point were one-sided. The room devolved into yelling when they were interrupted by a shouting man.

“Let me apologize if it comes across that we believe, and others believe, that everyone at Bellaire is a racist,” James Dixon II, president of the NAACP branch, told the audience as the yelling quieted down. “That is not the message.”

Tania Andrews, one of the two women who were interrupted, said the characterization of Bellaire presented by the speakers before her did not reflect the Bellaire she sees walking her hallways as a parent and teacher at the campus.

The campus had approximately 3,213 students enrolled during the 2020-21 school year, per HISD figures, approximately 41 percent of whom were Hispanic, 21 percent Black and 23 percent white. Last week the school made headlines for announcing it expects to graduate a record-breaking 13 valedictorians.

Andrews lauded the district investigating, adding that “we can’t just jump to a conclusion that can definitely end up with HISD in legal trouble.”

“It felt as if Bellaire was being demonized,” Andrews said in an interview after the event. “I am heavily invested in the culture at Bellaire and the community of Bellaire High School, and no child should demean another child. I do not condone bullying in any capacity.”

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