Three students involved with an Instagram account featuring photos and videos involving a Black caricatured doll at Salinas High School have been suspended, the Weekly has confirmed. In addition, a student who was a cheerleader and who was pictured posing on the account with the caricatured doll has been removed from the cheer team.
The investigation into student involvement is ongoing. According to a statement issued Thursday by Salinas Union High School District, “New facts have developed in the past 48 hours that require us to pursue more information. Thus, our student investigation will continue and we will alert the public when the investigation is fully complete.”
Meanwhile, a third party is also investigating staff for any potential involvement in the incident. They "will also give an assessment on Salinas High School administrative response and conduct before, during and after the incident," according to a district statement.
The now-private Instagram account, @shaniqua.shs, got widespread attention from high school students over the weekend. One of them, Kimberly Mendoza, a student at Everett Alvarez High, took several screenshots and shared a video on different social media platforms to expose the racist behavior during the Salinas Jamboree on Friday, Aug. 20. SUHSD administrators said they became aware of the account the next day.
On Tuesday, Aug. 24, about 300 people attended the SUHSD board meeting to speak, and another 2,000 viewed the meeting online. Students and parents and members of the community condemned the racist acts and called for action and accountability, and some expressed skepticism the administration would act.
“The district and the staff barely do anything, anything to discipline these people. They put more effort in dress codes and bathroom policies and phone policies,” said Giovanni Hernandez, a sophomore at Everett Alvarez High School.
Thursday’s announcement from SUHSD about discipline was more general, due to student confidentiality, but reads in part: ”The investigation into the anti-black racism incident at Salinas High School has resulted in disciplinary action for those who were directly responsible for both the doll and the social media account that is at the root of this situation.”
That disciplinary action is the three suspensions and removal from the cheer team. Two of the students who were suspended are Latino and one is Black; the cheerleader is white.
On Tuesday night at the board meeting, many students described a culture that permits and even encourages racism at Salinas High.“I walk these halls and I hear people throw around the N-word, like it's nothing,” said Lauren Gaskins, a senior at Salinas High.
Posters saying “Protect Black Students” were seen posted around Salinas High on Thursday. This prompted an email that was sent to students from Mark Dover, the school activities director: “We are getting a lot of posters posted around campus that have not been approved,” he wrote, requesting students get approval before posting signs on campus.
The League of United Latin American Citizens, LULAC #2055, and Monterey County chapter of the NAACP have issued statements independently and jointly condemning the racist acts, calling on SUHSD to seek accountability not just among students, but staff: “We demand answers from you about the egregious lack of judgment displayed by the adults that you have entrusted to monitor and oversee the behavior of your own student body,” the organization stated in a press release issued Thursday morning, Aug. 26. “They [students] need to know that you support them, and that they matter.”
Investigations into students and staff remain ongoing. It's unclear how many students or staff are involved, but the investigation includes the president of the Salinas High Associated Student Body.
Correction: This story has been updated to correctly state in every reference that the discipline for three students is suspension as stated throughout; in an earlier version, one reference incorrectly said they were expelled. No students have been expelled.