Demand Apology and Reparations for Survivors of Florida's Brutal Dozier Reform School!
After a Justice Department investigation of a Florida boys reform school found ongoing “systemic, egregious, and dangerous practices” at the school, and former students testified to having been tortured and treated like slaves, the school was finally shut down in 2011 after nearly 100 years in operation.
According to a recent report by Mother Jones, former students testified that while at the Arthur G. Dozier school, “Boys of all races were routinely, brutally, and even fatally beaten by staff….some were raped, and “runners” were fired upon—at least seven kids were reported dead after trying to escape.”
These and other testimonies led to the state investigation, and that led to the University of Southern Florida conducting an excavaton of the school’s gravesite to try to find out who the buried boys were and how they died.
Based on several reports, including one by North Escambia.com, the USF team unearthed 51 bodies, only 7 of which could be identified. Although the state claims none of this evidence proves any were killed by Dozier staff, a report by 10 News says researchers found the remains of one teen with what appears to be a buck shot pellet in the abdominal area.
After all these and many more atrocities described by former students, the state’s apparently official “apology” went something like this, as reported by NE: Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam said “he was 'sorry' for the generations of boys who endured whatever hardships may have occurred as wards of the state.”
However, US Senator Bill Nelson said the state of Florida should issue an official apology to the victims, and he’s alos calling for a federal investigation. But that's still not enough to atone for such an atocity as this.
This petition demands the State of Florida grant immediate and adequate monetary compensation to survivors and/or surviving families of those who were brutalized by this school of horrors, clearly acknowledging the trauma and pain they endured and the inevitable lasting negative effects on their lives.
To the State of Florida, Members of the General Assembly:
It should first be said that, aside from the disturbing revelations of the atrocities committed against children at the Dozier school, it is shameful that a petition of this kind, demanding the state do what it should have done years ago, is even necessary.
The state’s investigation in 2011 has already determined that “systemic, egregious, and dangerous practices” were a part of this school’s history, and no archaeological investigation was needed to confirm the accuracy of that finding. Anyone who takes the time to visit the website of the “Official White House Boys Organization” and reads its “Stories written by and about White House Boys," will find there all the confirmation they need to know the men who survived the brutality of Dozier deserve more than a half-hearted, generic apology.
One example is Marti Somnitz’s description about the house - the White House - where the punishments took place. He writes: “In this house, the State of Florida beat and scarred our bodies, wounded our souls, and dampened our spirits!
Other former “inmates” described for Mother Jones the beatings they personally endured at the White House - lashings so brutal their underwear would be beaten into their flesh.
And in 2010 former inmate Johnnie Walthour told Jacksonville.com about the brutal beatings his friend Billy endured, beatings Walthour, who says he helped bury Billy’s body, believes killed him.
Other victims explain how all the boys were forced to do work that benefited the school, but boys with African ancestry were treated as slaves, cutting cane in the fields, “planting peas and pulling corn,” and severely punished if they dared look a white man in the eye.
Add to these testimonies USF researchers’ damning report, indicating at least one boy might have died from a gunshot wound and findings of “consistently underreported" numbers of deaths that occurred in the school’s “bi-annual reports to the State. "For example, references to the deaths of at least 14 different 'colored' boys were made, but no names or specific information about the deaths were provided, including burial locations." Researcher said this poor and conflicting documentation made it all the more difficult to identify the remains.
Marti Somnitz ends his comments on his experience at Dozier by proclaiming “now… united…we rise up…and join together to ensure that this history is never, ever repeated.
We, the undersigned, demand that the State of Florida honor Somnitiz proclamation and ensure that this atrocity and the pain these men endured as children never be repeated and also that the state do everything in its power to lessen the effects of that trauma upon the victims’ current lives, which includes heartfelt apologies supported by sufficient monetary compensation.
By signing, you accept Care2's Terms of Service.
You can unsub at any time here.
Having problems signing this? Let us know.