No Hate Speech at Lincoln High
Recently, a hip-hop group, "DAM," was invited to perform at Lincoln High School. DAM has lyrics that liken the state of Israel to Nazis, and lyrics that justify terrorism. Students and parents articulated their concerns to the school board, which allowed the group to perform, despite the physical and emotional fears of the students. The lyrics demonize Israeli Jews, calling them rapists and Nazis, justifying terrorism against them.. ("You're a Democracy? It's more like the Nazis...Your raping of the Arab soul gave birth to your child: The suicide bomber.")
These lyrics are threatening to Jewish students at Lincoln, and do not represent the mainstream opinions of Palestinians and Arab Israelis.
In light of this, we request that the school board issue a statement apologizing for the incident, and assuring students that events with hate speech will not be tolerated again. Presently, the school board has found no breach in Lincoln High School's policies on hate speech. If that is so, the policy is not strong enough, and must be amended.
We the undersigned are petitioning Portland Public Schools in regard to the recent performance of a hip-hop group, "DAM," at Lincoln High School. DAM has lyrics that liken the state of Israel to Nazis, and lyrics that justify terrorism. The lyrics demonize Israeli Jews, calling them rapists and Nazis, justifying terrorism against them.. ("You're a Democracy? It's more like the Nazis...Your raping of the Arab soul gave birth to your child: The suicide bomber.")
These lyrics are threatening to Jewish students at Lincoln, and do not represent the mainstream opinions of Palestinians and Arab Israelis.
In light of this, we request that the school board issue a statement apologizing for the incident, and assuring students that events with hate speech will not be tolerated again. Presently, the school board has found no breach in Lincoln High School's policies on hate speech. If that is so, the policy is not strong enough, and must be amended.We thank you for your time, and know that the issue will be resolved fairly, in light of the above lyrics.
