Things have quieted down at Digital Harbor High School in Federal Hill since a series of incidents, some involving fights, between African-American and Latino students last week, but city police say they will continue increased patrols there.
Meanwhile, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake called the incidents sad and disheartening. “I am pleased that the school, in collaboration with many outside agencies, [is] confronting the problem head on and [not] trying to sugarcoat it and calling it something it is not,” she said at her weekly news conference Wednesday. “There is racial discord and they are dealing with it. It’s sad that in 2014, we have students that are fighting and having violent interactions over racial bias, especially when you think of how far we’ve come.”
But Digital Harbor tenth-grader Alvin Green downplayed last week’s incidents. He said he has not heard a lot of students talking about racial tension between African Americans and Latinos or about the potential for violence between the two groups. "I don’t feel nothing is going on and [what] happened was probably just a little situation,” Green said. “Everybody be communicating with each other. Ain’t nothing going on, ain’t nothing wrong. Everything is cool.”
Police say they step up patrols at all schools at the end of each school year, but the deployment around Digital is larger to prevent future incidents. They say they are working collaboratively with school police and other administrators on the Digital Harbor High issues in efforts to ensure the safety of all students.