SCARBOROUGH, ME – OCTOBER 27: Scarborough High School students out protesting outside town hall after teachers were advised against wearing or displaying “controversial” messages like “Black Lives Matter” Tuesday, October 27, 2020. (Staff Photo by Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer)

SCARBOROUGH — High school students in the Scarborough Anti-Racism Coalition and Civil Rights Club gathered in protest on Oct. 27 against a memo calling “Black Lives Matter” a controversial and/or a political statement. Later that day the school superintendent apologized for the inclusion of “Black Lives Matter” in the memo and the following day the Board of Education stated that the “Black Lives Matter” movement was not politically controversial.

Communication from the school district on Oct. 26 asked teachers and staff to refrain from displaying messages or statements that are deemed controversial or political, using “Black Lives Matter” as one of the examples.

“Black Lives Matter” is not a political or controversial statement, said Harshini Chaganti, high school senior and member of the Scarborough Anti-Racism Coalition. The phrase is about basic human rights.

One example that has been raised is the fact that staff members are able to display a sticker that says, “Safe Space” on classroom doors, which symbolizes support for LGBTQ+ students, Chaganti said.

“Everyone in the LGBTQ+ community knows that it’s a welcoming environment and they’re safe there, so why can’t teachers do the same thing for ‘Black Lives Matter’ and show People of Color that they’re safe and welcome there?” she said.

The students desire a statement from administration in support of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, to declare that “Black Lives Matter,” said Chaganti.

A follow-up statement was released on Oct. 27 from Superintendent Sanford J. Prince.

“As I now reflect on a communication that was shared by our curriculum director to staff yesterday, I understand that the reference to the phrase ‘Black Lives Matter’ was offensive to many people who read the memo,” Prince said in the statement. “Please know that inclusion of that phrase was not at all intended to be a statement to make any member of the community feel less valued in any way and we are deeply apologetic for that. We are collectively acknowledging here that we need to better educate and equip ourselves to have these conversations.”

The statement was appreciated, but students still believe that there needs to be communication from administration that acknowledges that “Black Lives Matter” is not controversial, Chaganti said.

“We greatly appreciate that, but we still do think there has to be some sort of written official record that removes ‘Black Lives Matter’ from the list of controversial topics and allows teachers to promote it, to advocate, and to show students they’re allowed to support them,” she said.

The Board of Education released its own statement on Oct. 28, saying that the Board believes that the communication on Oct. 26 inaccurately interpreted the district’s policy regarding controversial issues.

“As a board, it is our duty to make our position known, and we want to be clear: the Black Lives Matter movement is not a controversial or political issue — it is a human rights movement,” said the statement.

The Scarborough Anti-Racism Coalition shared this communication on Facebook, thanking the Board.

Consisting primarily of Scarborough High School students and alumni, the Scarborough Anti-Racism Coalition formed over the summer, Chaganti said.

“It was only started up a few months ago, but the issues have been around for a long time,” she said. “Our mission statement is that the Scarborough Anti-Racism Coalition aims to defend and advocate for students of color, to amplify their voices, and to secure a more tolerant and equitable community through comprehensive educational reform.”

One of the main issues that the coalition is trying to highlight is the use of microaggressions, an indirect or subtle statement or action that is discriminatory to people of color, Chaganti said. White peers or teachers may not realize they are using microaggressions, making education crucial to ending the issue.

Students gave specific examples of times that their peers or teachers used microaggressions.

Precilia Ngalamulume, a senior, said that people have used the words “blacks” and “colored” in a “racially charged way.” People have asked to touch her hair, wondered if her hair was real, and in one instance, a teacher asked her to point out on a map where in Africa she was born.

“As noted by Reshika Sai Devarajan, a senior at Scarborough High School, people have said, ‘all (Indians) do is work at tech support’ and called Indians ‘curry munchers,'” Chaganti said in an email. “Many people have also asked, ‘Is the only thing you eat rice?’ and ‘Do you worship cows?’ at completely unnecessary times. Another example stated by her is grouping Indians and other South Asian countries into the same category even though India is culturally diverse.”

Chaganti said that a student once asked her if she had ridden a tiger, and the same student asked her at another time if she had ridden a camel.

People need to be held accountable for these forms of microaggressions, she said.

“Students, teachers — they don’t realize they’re doing it, and that’s one of our upcoming steps is to find a way to hold people accountable and try to reduce those microaggressions through educating people,” Chaganti said.