A vice principal in California is being accused of racial profiling after being caught on camera calling three Black adolescent girls “ghetto” and “section 8” during a heated confrontation in a gated community in North Fresno.
Kyra Schrubb, 17, and Bri’janae Lewis, 17, told KMPH that they were passing through the gated enclave to take a shortcut when they came across Fred Veenendaal. Bri’janae lives nearby, while Kyra lives nearby.
Kyra’s mother also told the news source that they can access the gated enclave because they know someone who lives there, and that her daughter and her friend take that way to the store since it saves them several minutes of walking time.
However, the girls noticed Veenendaal, a vice principle at Sunnyside High School, recording them as they went through the neighborhood on Sunday. Veenendaal is heard telling the girls in a video of the encounter that he is a member of the gated community’s board of directors.
He also appears to contact the police during the back-and-forth with the three girls. “Officers, you got three girls here … three section-8 people here … ghetto girls,” he is heard saying in the video.
“Why would you even say some stuff like that? We’re minors,” Bri’janae told KMPH. “It was unnecessary. You didn’t have to do all that, you didn’t have to racial profile for no reason. I feel so bad because like as a black woman, I should be able to walk … and just walk peacefully without, you know, people being racist for no reason,” Kyra added.
In a statement, the Fresno Unified School District said Veenendaal has been placed on paid administrative leave until the result of an inquiry into the event. “We are aware of the circulating video, and the district launched an investigation into the matter on Monday.” The labels used in the movie “do not reflect the high standards we have for our Fresno Unified leaders and staff,” according to the school system.
“We want to assure our families that having respectful, inclusive, and loving adults serving in our school is of the utmost importance to Sunnyside and our district as a whole.”
Bri’janae said she hopes Veenendaal “gets fired.” “He gotta go,” she added.
