Novel Class Teaches Teens Tolerance

SAN CLEMENTE —  Marine Staff Sgt. Carlos Arellano had doubts about participating as a volunteer aide in his daughter’s class on racial tolerance at San Clemente High School.

“I didn’t want to do it,” said Arellano, 35, fearing that instructor Joe Moros’ new class might cause friction, rather than understanding, among students.

But his misgivings have evaporated, partly because of what Arellano saw in class Tuesday. That’s when Brian Levin, a Newport Beach attorney and a national expert on hate crimes, spoke to students about a variety of incidents against minorities.

Levin told the students about Bensonhurst, Howard Beach and Auschwitz, places that have come to symbolize racial hatred and violence. Bensonhurst, N.Y., is where Yusuf Hawkins, a 16-year-old African-American, was killed by young whites in 1989.

Michael Griffith, 23, was killed after a mob of white teen-agers attacked him and several other African-Americans in the Howard Beach section of Queens, N.Y., in 1986. Griffith was killed when he fled onto a highway and was hit by a car.

As for Auschwitz, Levin flashed onto a screen pictures of emaciated Jews at the concentration camp. “When you put a swastika on someone’s home or put up a sign that says ‘KKK’ and print ‘Go Home,’ this is what Jews see. They see them ,” he said, pointing to the screen.

“You must understand that this goes to my identity, my religious beliefs,” Levin said. “And this is what victims of hate crimes see and feel.”

He urged students to follow good role models and understand that their actions have long-term effects and that they are responsible for their choices and mistakes.

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The message was as clear as the news clippings instructor Moros had put on the classroom wall. The headlines read: “Jews Are Targets of More Violence” and “Police Probe Beating of Girl as Hate Crime.” Both headlines pertained to Orange County.

San Clemente High School Principal Christopher Cairns believes the class is the first one in Orange County specifically intended to help teen-agers deal with prejudice, hatred and violence.

While other classes highlight multiculturalism, “we try to confront the racial stuff head-on,” Moros said, adding that parents like Arellano and another volunteer, Jeane Kirklen-Cobb, an African-American who operates a San Clemente insurance office, were included by design.

“Adding them to the program is novel,” Moros said, “because it allows us to have a Latino and a black adult in the classroom to help students draw from their experiences.”

Moros, an English teacher, recruited students at San Clemente High to have an equal number of whites, Latinos and African-Americans in the class, which is patterned, in part, on a program established by Norman Siegel, director of the American Civil Liberties Union in New York.

The class, “Presenting Tolerance Through Understanding,” began in February, after approval by the Capistrano Unified School District Board of Trustees.

And its meaning is not lost at San Clemente High, which in the past two years has had campus fights involving minority students.

The school has also suffered from the notoriety of two off-campus incidents. In one case, Stephen Woods, 17, of San Clemente was fatally injured by a paint roller rod thrown during an attack by a group of Latino youths.

The other case involved the actions of former San Clemente High football player Jeffrey Raines, 19, and several friends, who nearly beat to death a man they thought was gay.

“Just learning about different kinds of prejudice has been interesting,” said student Kheli Grace-Coggins, 18. “It’s kind of sad, because this is my last year here and I would have liked to have had the class earlier.”

“San Clemente High School has gotten a bad reputation that we can’t get along here, but that’s just a perception from people on the outside,” said Arellano’s daughter, Monica, 16.

At first, Carlos Arellano worried that class discussions might lead to a flare-up among students.

“But having the different ethnic mix of one-third Latino, one-third black and white helps students think as individuals and not as members of a particular group,” he said.