Photo by Stephen Oduntan
By Stephen Oduntan
Contributing Writer
LOS ANGELES — Thirteen-year-old Ramin Salari sat in class at a Los Angeles Unified School District middle school as students taunted him with racial slurs that included the N-word.
When he reported it, his teacher acknowledged the complaint — but nothing changed. The slurs continued daily. His Latino classmates never faced consequences.
Then, one day, a student escalated the abuse.
“I’ll shoot you in the head,” the student threatened.
Ramin’s mother expected swift action. Instead, a school administrator dismissed the threat, implying it wasn’t serious because the student was also Black.
“Well, he’s Black too,” the mother said.
Ramin’s case is not unique. For Drina and Salvador Torres, the story felt painfully familiar. Their 13-year-old son, Sal’Vyion, was physically attacked at his middle school, leaving him terrified of returning.
“He kept saying, ‘He wanted to kill me like George Floyd,’” Salvador Torres said. “How can a grown man do this to a child?”
Like many Black parents in the district, the Torres family believes the LAUSD is failing their children.
“They don’t care. They just want to sweep this under the rug,” Torres said.
It took weeks — and repeated calls — for school officials to acknowledge the attack.
“Only after the NAACP and Black Lives Matter got involved did they finally meet with us,” Torres said. “But even then, they didn’t take it seriously.”
Some Black parents, including the Torreses, have pulled their children from district schools. Others demand systemic change.
“We need more Black staff. We need accountability,” Drina Torres said. “We need to know our children will be safe.”
Efforts were made to contact LAUSD administrators and Latino advocacy organizations, including the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Latino Community Foundation. Neither responded to requests for comment.
LAUSD’s Public Information Officer Britt Vaughan provided a brief email statement:
“No one is available for an interview, and we cannot comment at this time. We take this seriously and are looking into it.”
The frustration isn’t limited to one or two families. Eliza Jane Franklin’s sons, Gregory and Benny, faced similar hostility at their school.
“My son was called a monkey and [the N-word] in his first three weeks,” Franklin said. “I reported it. Nothing happened.”
Her younger son, Benjamin, was called a slave. Even a Black staff member made a degrading remark, calling him “nappy-headed.”
Franklin hoped district officials would intervene after another student threatened to shoot her son. Instead, she got more indifference.
“Why does a Black child have to get hit for something to be done?” she asked.
Parents and community leaders argue that LAUSD enforces a dangerous double standard, where Black students face harsher consequences while others receive leniency.
“What factors into the higher suspension rates? Kids are trying to defend themselves. And they have administrators who don’t believe them,” said James Thomas, president of the NAACP’s San Fernando Valley Branch. “That creates a dangerous double standard.”
Frustration has turned into alarm.
“Young kids are suicidal because of this. Their parents don’t want to take them to school. Kids are being beaten up and assaulted,” Thomas added.
Some parents believe the pattern is influenced by LAUSD’s leadership demographics. Latino individuals make up the largest share of school administrators in LAUSD, a factor parents say plays a role in how disciplinary actions are enforced.
According to district data, approximately 46% of administrators are Latino, while 21% are Black and 22% are white. While the district has not directly addressed concerns about bias, the numbers reflect a stark reality: Black students face disproportionately higher suspension rates than their Latino and white peers.
With little faith in the district’s willingness to act, some parents are now turning to the courts. Attorney Bradley Gage, representing the Torres family, confirmed lawsuits are in progress against both the assailant and the school district.
“We plan to sue the man who harmed our client and the school, which knew of prior incidents but failed to act,” Gage said.
He also noted an alarming surge in racial hostility against Black students in California.
“Since November, we’ve seen more potential cases than in my first 39 years of practice combined,” he added.
But lawsuits alone won’t solve the problem, parents say. They demand immediate changes: stronger protections for Black students, mandatory racial sensitivity training for administrators and greater transparency in how LAUSD handles racial harassment.
“At some point, parents will have to do whatever they need to do to make sure their kids are safe. A walkout. A full walkout,” Thomas said.
Parents say the lack of response only adds to their frustration, reinforcing the belief that their concerns are being ignored.
Until meaningful action is taken, Black parents say their children will remain ignored and endangered—just as they have for years.
Stephen Oduntan is a freelance reporter for Wave Newspapers.
