Three Salinas High students suspended over Black doll incident
SALINAS, Calif. (KION) KION is learning that three students have been suspended for their involvement in the Black baby doll incident at Salinas High School that has enraged the local community in the last week.
A source familiar with the matter confirms with KION that the three students, two of whom are Hispanic and one African American, are being accused of creating the Black baby doll itself and for creating an Instagram page that circulated crude content involving the doll.
The source also confirms that a Salinas High cheerleader, who is white and who took a photo with the doll, has been kicked off the cheer team.
KION has chosen to include the race of the students because it is pertinent to the story.
"My initial response is that, yes, that's disappointing to me because several of the kids that we saw on the videos and in the pictures violating the doll, we've heard that nothing has happened to them. And now these three other students that we've never heard of before, we find out that we're suspended," said Yvonne Thomas, the president of the Monterey County NAACP.
In a Monterey County NAACP meeting in Seaside Thursday night, members resolved to keep up the pressure against school districts to make changes related to race and understanding. But the president said she only learned about the suspension right before the meeting.
"There will be a lot of investigation done tonight and tomorrow to find out what actually took place, why these children were suspended and what's going to happen to those that we are aware of with the doll last week," said THomas.
"We're waiting to see the final list of all students who are suspended or have some kind of disciplinary action, including all admin and faculty that were involved," said Chris Barrera, the president of LULAC.
Barrera says he is disappointed that only partial info on discipline was confirmed so far. He says LULAC and the NAACP will keep pressing forward.
"No, it doesn't change things. We're going to proceed accordingly with our initial statement," said Barrera. "We're looking for justice, we're looking for everybody to be held accountable."
The Salinas Union High School District said in a statement the investigation is ongoing and they will be releasing more details in the coming weeks. They did not give out further details about who else will be disciplined.
