Published in the Victoria Advocate on March 20, 2022. View the story here.

GOLIAD, Texas — Eileen Perry saw it coming.

She’d seen her son, a student at Goliad High School, on an Instagram account that posted pictures of Black students and used racist language. When she met with members of the school administration about the account in February, she told them what could happen.

“I told them in the individual meeting that day,” Perry said, that eventually, someone would have enough. And they’d retaliate.

“And they kept on saying, ‘It’s not going to be (my son). (He’s) not going to be that person.’ I said, ‘It doesn’t have to be (him). It could be ... anybody,’” Perry said.

She was right.

Some parents of students within the Goliad Independent School District have said their children have been bullied because of their race. They say they’ve spoken to school officials about a pattern of behavior that includes students’ use of racial slurs and racist language, both in person and on social media.

Goliad Independent School District Superintendent Stacy Ackley said the district doesn’t make distinctions between the instances of bullying that include racism and the ones that don’t. He attributes the misuse of social media to “keyboard cowards” — people who say things online that they would never say in person.

“Digital citizenship — not just for kids but for adults, as well — it doesn’t exist,” Ackley said.

But parents are worried about what happens in person, and it’s not just among high school students. One parent, Anna Garner, has two children in Goliad Middle School, a son and a daughter.

“He hears it. You know, from a distance — them making comments, saying the N-word all the time,” said Garner. She said teachers will tell the students to stop, but they rarely take further disciplinary action. Garner said her daughter’s experience was more direct. White classmates told her she belonged in a book they were reading because the book was about slaves.

“Nothing was ever done about it,” Garner said, despite saying that multiple school employees were aware of the incident.

Ackley said all reported instances of bullying are investigated, and any student who didn’t contribute to a safe and comfortable educational environment would face consequences.

“That’s every kid, and I don’t think any race has anything to do with treating the kids right,” Ackley said.

But parents and community members say that punishment for misbehavior, such as in-school suspensions and assignments to a disciplinary alternative education program, or DAEP, are unfairly meted out to students of color.

“My children have all gone to school here,” said Angelica De La Garza. She said her family has dealt with these problems before, but her youngest is bearing the brunt.

“I’ve started to feel like it’s become more personal because every time he gets in trouble . . . he’s automatically (in) ISS,” or in-school suspension, she said.

De La Garza said that after one verbal altercation, her son, a sophomore, was assigned to DAEP for 45 days.

“He was supposed to get out in December, and then December turned into February, and the day he was supposed to get out — now they got him in there indefinitely,” De La Garza said. She said that changes to disciplinary actions usually involved a hearing, but she wasn’t notified. The GISD Student Code of Conduct says that a “good-faith effort shall be made” to inform parents of disciplinary actions.

Parents and community members began talking to each other more openly about their experiences within the school system a few weeks ago. A student retaliated physically after she was called a racial slur. She was given 120 days of in-school suspension, which the school board later amended to the remainder of the school year after an appeal by the student, her mother and a family advisor.

Parents say both the bullying and the perceived inaction have taken a toll.

“My daughter is getting affected by it badly,” Garner said. “She likes to write a lot of stuff down, and usually she lets me and my sister read it.”

Until one day, when she didn’t.

“She just said, ‘Mom, I’m writing about depression. I’m writing about the color of my skin,” Garner said.

Pastor Ira Antoine, of Minnehulla Baptist Church, and youth director Farris Avery have met with groups of parents and students to provide support and counseling. They say that students have told them that the events have had an effect on their mental health, and even their aspirational drive.

“That’s not what the school system should be,” Antoine said. “That’s not what the community should be. But that’s what you get. That’s the bigger picture.”

Ackley said bullying behavior of any kind is not and will not be tolerated.

“The only promises I can make is that we’re going to investigate it,” Ackley said. “We don’t want anyone to feel like this isn’t their home.”

But parents like De La Garza, who has a grandchild entering the school system, say something needs to change.

“These kids are going through enough,” she said.