A racial slur written in a boys bathroom at Hingham High School was found just days after a swastika had been been scrawled, again in a boys bathroom at the school.
The “N word” graffiti was reported by students and removed by school staff on Monday, March 10. The swastika was found and removed on Thursday, March 6.
In an email to parents, Hingham High School Interim Principal John Buckey said the slur was photographed and removed from the wall. The graffiti was reported to Hingham police, who were already investigating last week’s incident, Buckey said.
“As these acts of hate are a crime, we are supporting their investigations as such,”Buckey said in the email.
“Tagging school property by marking swastikas or any other form of hate will be fully investigated by the high school administration and Hingham Police Department and any students who engage in such acts face consequences accordingly,” Buckey said.
School committee chair says this is not ‘kids being kids’
Hingham School Committee Chair Nancy Correnti said each incident reflected what she described as “a deeply troubling issue that has surfaced in our school community “
“These are not random acts of graffiti. These are symbols of hate…symbols that send a message of exclusion, fear, and intimidation to members of our community,” she said in a statement read aloud at the beginning of the committee’s March 10 meeting. “Let me be clear: Hate has no place in our school. Not last week, not today, not ever.”
She said what happened in Hingham is part of a larger and growing national rise in intolerant attitudes and actions based on hate..
“The responsibility falls on all of us − students, educators, parents, and community members − to confront this reality, to educate, and to take meaningful action,” she said. “These acts are not pranks. They are not just ‘kids being kids.’ They are deeply harmful, and they demand our full attention and action.”
Suprintendent Kathryn Roberts thanks students, staff for quick actions
Hingham Public Schools Superintndent Kathryn Roberts thanked the students who reported what they found to school officials. She said both incidents were a reminder to maintain constant vigilancce against intolerance and hate wherever it is found.
“(We will) work to reassert the values and mission of HPS to provide an inclusive and welcoming environment for all,” she said.
Hingham’s religious and civil rights groups respond
In addition to statement by school officials, area organizations such as the Hingham Hull Religious Leaders Association, Hingham Unity Council and Hingham Human RIghts Commission also decried the actions and called on residents to be vocal in their opposition to hate speech and other expressions of intolerance.
ADL of New England ‘profoundly disturbed’ by reports
The swastika and slur also prompted a response form the Anti-Defamation League of New England.
“We are profoundly disturbed by the recent reports of racist graffiti discovered at Hingham High School, coming just after the troubling discovery of a swastika,” the organization said on its Facebook page.”These incidents underscore the urgent need for our community to unite in actively confronting and eradicating all forms of hatred and bigotry.”
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