CENTINELA VALLEY PROTEST: A SEARCH FOR COMMON GROUND : All Sides Speak Out on Centinela Schools’ Racial Tension

Charles Prater, Hawthorne Teacher

Charles Prater, 33, has worked in the Centinela Valley Union High School District for three years as an English teacher at Hawthorne High School. A strong supporter of district Supt. McKinley Nash and Hawthorne High Principal Ken Crowe, Prater has served as spokesman for the black teachers in his school.

Q: What do you think has caused the racial tensions and student unrest in the district?

A: I’ve only been here three years. There just has been too much time and energy put into personality attacks on the part of the teachers union. Members of the teachers union came out too strong against key administrators in the district who happened to be black administrators. Obviously the administrators took it personally and the union members kept it personal. The underlying issue is that the majority of this faculty was not ready to be led by three key administrators who were black. I do think it is rooted in the racial component. I know it has been said that there was a black principal at Hawthorne before, but never before did you have a black superintendent and another black principal at the same time.

(The student protest) was rooted in the community, probably with parents and other community members who have really been concerned since the board elections. There has been an outcry of support for Dr. Nash. I think when word got out about Crowe, parents saw this as the final straw. The students became aware of what the community was already aware of. Obviously this was just the community feeling fed up, and it just spilled over into the students. I don’t think that any faculty or staff members contributed. There were certainly adults at home who probably expressed their outrage to their children. Certainly there were some key students who had enough of a grasp of the situation to be a key influence on the other students.

Q: How effectively have the school board, administrators and teachers responded to the situation?

A: I don’t think the school board has been effective at all. Avoiding the issue is not the way to handle the situation. The board should have taken the opportunity on the first day when the board had its first (post-election) meeting. They should have taken some time to listen to some of the concerns of the parents. The board has to make itself more accessible to the community and all segments of the staff. I have not seen that done so far. I would think that as a brand new school board they would want to hear from all segments of the school district. It just appears that the only open ear they’ve had is to the 80% of the faculty that helped support their election.

Teachers have generally handled the situation well. The teachers union may have been overzealous in trying to find someone to blame this on; 1,800 students peaceably demonstrated and perhaps 200 got out of hand and the union has focused on this 200. It’s almost like a headhunting thing. There’s nothing I have or any other teachers have that indicates any staff member had any part in this. Most teachers are just going about the regular routine.

I think the administration started out handling (the protest) in a good manner. Dr. Nash was on the scene right away and provided means for the students to get back from the high school without much incident. I think the administration has been hampered by the board because the board came in and said to the superintendent, you cannot have a press conference.

Q: How effective has the administration been in reducing racial tension generally?

A: Generally, I think they’ve done it well considering they have been the object of most of the attacks. They’ve continued to do that which would be best for the students and the school.

Q: What do you think should be done to address the problems of racial tension and student unrest?

A: There is going to have to be a consensus of the faculty that we are going to have to come together to work out in a conciliatory manner what’s best for this school district. Certain things are going to have to happen before this can take place. There is too much distrust on the part of us all. The black faculty would want to see a change in the present union leadership and we could not see ourselves coming together to work with the union without a change in that leadership.

We’ve seen instances in which public figures have lost their jobs for making racist statements whether they were intentional or not. People like Al Campanis of the Dodgers, Jimmy the Greek or Andy Rooney. And then we think about Nancy Nuesseler, who is working with our children every day. We don’t think it’s right. Maybe she could keep teaching in this district, but she certainly should not be in a leadership position. We would want the board to rescind (Crowe’s) resignation.

We haven’t seen evidence that the board has gotten together with administrators and let them know which direction they would like to see them taking our schools. This board has to open up and begin to discuss what the needs are, what the desires of the board are. The silence has got to come to an end. We need to see evidence that this board is willing to listen and share its views with us, a more give-and-take type of atmosphere.

Q: Has any good come from the controversy?

A: It has certainly brought together factions of the community that were not together--for instance, the black teachers in Hawthorne. In the community, parents have come together to discuss the situation. We have brought in politicians to take a look at our school situation. The racism that exists in these schools is being exposed to the public, not swept under the rug. Whenever racism is present, it does need to be exposed. If this has helped the community to become involved in its schools, then that’s certainly a benefit.

Q: The student body president has complained that you and other teachers have devoted class time to discussing racial tensions in the district.

A: I teach English. That means I teach all communication skills--writing, speaking and listening. Many times, I come up with assignments that bring up contemporary topics. So I do engage them in current events. If I were teaching science or math, maybe his point would be true. But as an English teacher, it’s part of my job. All he has to do is look at the district or state writing test and he’ll see that the topics are very controversial. . . . To keep them in class (at the time of the protests) I asked them to write letters and get them to express themselves.

Q: To whom were the letters sent?

A: To Mrs. Morales (school board President Ruth Morales).