Daily Southtown: Ahmed Rehab on Andrew High School
Slowik: Student protests, dramatic attendance drop at Andrew High School after divisive social media posts circulate
By TED SLOWIK
“A student protest outside Andrew High School in Tinley Park Friday morning left little doubt the community could benefit from more conversations about respecting one another.
Student protesters — most of them Arab-American — said their concerns about racism, bigotry and religious intolerance were not being sufficiently addressed.
“Hate has no home here,” a group of about 75 students chanted as they faced traffic passing in the 9000 block of 171st Street. “Equal rights for all students.”
Orland Park-based Consolidated High School District 230 addressed the protest in a statement Friday attributed to Superintendent James Gay and Andrew principal Bob Nolting.
“As a school and district, we continue to be committed to providing a safe and inclusive learning environment that celebrates the uniqueness of our students and staff,” they said in the statement.
Friday was the second day of protests at the school following a fight Wednesday. Video of the fight was shared widely on social media and showed several students throwing punches and brawling in a hallway. Ten students involved in the fight were disciplined, Gay and Nolting said.
Students at Andrew High School in Tinley Park protested in subfreezing cold on Friday, Nov. 15, 2019, before the start of the school day. Students said they were protesting racism and religious intolerance. (Ted Slowik/Daily Southtown)
The fight “appears to have stemmed from a video posted to social media over a year ago that allegedly depicted a current student, not on school grounds, disrespecting the Quran,” they said. “The student depicted in the video was not an Andrew High School student at the time.”
School officials had not seen the video as of Friday morning, they said.
“School administration has asked each of the students who have referenced the video to share it with the school,” they said. “However, none of the students have been able to do so.”
A student protesting in subfreezing cold on the sidewalk outside the school before classes Friday said she had seen the video of someone disrespecting the holy book of the Muslim faith. The video showed someone tearing a page and stepping on the book, she said.
“In every faith or belief they say we need to respect each other,” she said to other protesters. “We are done being quiet. We have a voice. Let’s use our voice.”
The girl said some of her classmates felt threatened and unsafe because of increased tensions among students.
“Today people were scared to come here because there was a gun threat,” the girl said.
School officials said attendance was affected by the week’s incidents.
A student holds a sign during a protest on Nov. 15, 2019, outside Andrew High School in Tinley Park. (Ted Slowik/Daily Southtown)
“Approximately 450 students did not attend school on Thursday and 250 did not attend on Friday,” Gay and Nolting said. “The typical absence rate is 125 to 150 students.”
The district statement addressed rumors, including an unfounded report that a student burned the Quran at school and spit in the face of a Muslim student.
“That did not happen,” the administrators said. “If it did, swift disciplinary action would be taken as we will never condone hateful behavior.”
Another rumor that a student was depicted in blackface using disparaging language also was unfounded, they said.
“We believe this is related to a social media post from February of last school year of a student who had recently had a spray tan and posted a racially insensitive remark,” they said.
The student was disciplined once school officials recently were made aware of the post, they said.
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Another girl said during Friday’s protest that student concerns over hateful conduct had not been sufficiently addressed.
A student holds a sign on Friday, Nov. 15, 2019, during a protest outside Andrew High School in Tinley Park. (Ted Slowik/Daily Southtown)
“It is ridiculous that we are gathered here for a peaceful protest and that we had to be threatened by a shooting threat because we just want to protest the racism and injustices,” she said. “One of our inalienable rights is our freedom to protest, our freedom to speak.”
In a message to students over the public address system on Thursday, Nolting addressed alleged threats of violence.
“Through our investigation, we feel there is no imminent threat or safety concern at school,” he said.
Nolting also said the school needed to overcome the “perception that Andrew is a place where intolerance is tolerated.”
“It is not, it has never been, and it will never be,” he told students. “We need to root out microaggressions through an outpouring of compassion in our hallways, our lunchrooms and our classrooms.”
During Friday’s protest, microaggressions were apparent to anyone listening to student protesters as traffic passed and a long line of vehicles waited to turn into the school parking lot.
While a student was speaking during the protest, the driver of a passing vehicle revved the engine loudly. People turned to see a black pickup truck that seemed like it was trying to “roll coal.”
Rolling coal is described as modifying a diesel engine to increase the amount of fuel entering the engine in order to emit large amounts of black or grey sooty exhaust fumes into the air as a form of anti-environmentalism.
A man driving a gray SUV shouted obscenities at students while driving past and flipped off the group with a middle finger. A white pickup truck driven by an adult male turned into the school parking lot. The bed of the truck displayed a large American flag on a pole. Something about the vehicle and the driver seemed provocative.
“The American flag is not offensive to Arab-Americans. They’re Americans,” Ahmed Rehab, executive director of CAIR-Chicago said Friday in response to an inquiry. CAIR stands for the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
“What might be provocative is the driver’s aggressive behavior, the animosity toward others,” Rehab said. “It lets them know one way or another that they’re despised. These are things Muslims are all too familiar with, especially those who wear the hijab,” a head covering.
Police stationed in traffic outside the school Friday did not react to any of the incidents.
School officials indicated conversations are taking place within the school to address concerns.
“The administration and students engaged in open dialogue to help heal the wounds and forge a path forward that celebrates each and every student,” Gay and Nolting said.
Students dispersed in time to attend classes, they said, and shared “a message of compassion, tolerance and celebration of all.”
“The gathering was orderly and peaceful,” they said.
After observing how three motorists reacted to Friday’s protest, one can’t help but think that more conversations are needed outside of the school — in the community, among adults.”
tslowik@tribpub.com
Twitter @tedslowik1