Justice For Bernadette Yuson
One racial slur. Two stories. Three months.
That in brief summarizes the tale of Bernadette Yuson, a Cajon High School math teacher who remains on administrative leave following an incendiary claim in September that she directed a racial slur against black students in her classroom.
At the time, school administrators took statements from Yuson and her accuser, Cajon High senior LaRue Bell, and determined quickly that the veteran teacher had violated a district policy that bars teachers from using "abusive or obscene language in the presence of students," including "derogatory, racial or ethnic remarks."
After the story broke in September, the district claimed its investigation was "fair and deliberate." District spokeswoman Linda Bardere told a reporter at the time, "We took quick and decisive disciplinary action once all of the facts were in."
Except all the facts weren't in. Nobody had bothered to interview the other students in Yuson's class, for starters. Meantime, Bell took his story to the press and a predictable tsunami of community outrage followed. Bell's mother demanded Yuson be fired. Naturally, the local NAACP got involved.
Gwen Rodgers of the Young Women's Empowerment Foundation typified the incoherent community activist response. "We believe there are systemic failures that require a deeper understanding and investigation," she told reporters in advance of a Sept. 16 school board meeting. Then she called for Yuson's permanent ouster and demanded district administrators be punished for failing to take Bell's claims seriously. In short, district officials could investigate all they like, as long as the outcome would satisfy the professionally aggrieved.
How did San Bernardino Unified School District Superintendent Dale Marsden react to this onslaught? First with an abject apology, then with self-flagellation. The district, he said, should have treated Bell's allegations with a "greater sense of urgency." But it's difficult to know how school administrators could have been more urgent - or hasty - in this case.
Yet Marsden promised a second, more thorough investigation. That inquiry was supposed to be finished in early October.
October passed into November, November eased into December, and now here we are a week before Christmas with no report. Yuson's family says they're completely in the dark and frustrated with the wait. Yuson herself has said even if her name is somehow cleared, she may not return to work. Who could blame her?
I asked the district for an update on Monday. "The district plans to complete the restorative justice process at the beginning of 2015," Bardere replied in an email.
The response struck me as odd. I followed up with another question: "Just for the sake of clarity, what does ‘restorative justice' mean in this context?" No answer.
Broadly speaking, "restorative justice" refers to repair and restitution as part of peacefully resolving conflicts. The concept has been around in New Zealand, Canada and Europe for several years, but only lately has made its way to the United States. Schools across the country are gradually adopting the idea, which places dialogue and community-building ahead of automatic suspensions or expulsions. The Los Angeles Unified School District's 2013 "school climate bill of rights," for example, pledges to have restorative practices in all schools by 2020. San Bernardino Unified is piloting the practice in several schools this year.
In a similar vein, Superintendent Marsden in September promised "continuing dialogue" to discuss what harm the Yuson incident may have done and what the district might do to repair it. But, with respect, the district's decisions thus far seem to be more about pacification than restoration.
When the school district says it "plans to complete the restorative justice process" sometime in the new year, the question that ought to come to mind is: "restorative" for whom? For a racially divided high school? For the surrounding community? For Yuson and her class?
Let's imagine that San Bernardino Unified somehow finds that Yuson was innocent and her student accuser was either mistaken or perhaps even malicious with his claim.
Let's even assume the district needed three months to figure out who was telling the truth in September. It's well and good to speak of rebuilding communities and salving hurt feelings. But repairing harm from this episode will require a lot more work than a few community meetings.
The more immediate question is where Bernadette Yuson is supposed to go to restore her career and reputation after this. Where is her justice?
This piece originally appeared in Riverside Press Enterprise
This piece originally appeared in Riverside Press Enterprise