CARLSBAD — A Carlsbad mother says a widely circulated video showing her daughter being surrounded, taunted with racist language and ultimately assaulted by a group of juveniles at Poinsettia Park highlights what she described as a troubling, pervasive attitude within the city and its school district.
“While this behavior is absolutely unacceptable, I understand it to be the norm throughout Carlsbad Unified School District and our community,” April Amor said at a March 11 school board meeting. “It’s my belief that if it weren’t for the video that has been circulating, this matter would be swept under the rug as many other incidents.”
Amor said she wants those involved in a recent altercation at Poinsettia Park to be prosecuted, calling it justice for her daughter and other children who have experienced similar racist incidents.
A video of the incident has received more than 230,000 views since it was posted on Facebook on March 5, drawing widespread attention and prompting community members to voice their concerns to district officials.
In the footage, a Black girl on an electric bicycle is surrounded by a group of children who appear to be preventing her from leaving the park, with some positioned in front of and behind the bike and others standing nearby.
Several individuals can be heard making comments, seemingly attempting to provoke her into a physical confrontation.
“Just slap her,” one child can be heard saying.
Someone in the group can also be heard using a racial slur, along with other profanity.
“This feels really … racist right now. We’re all ganging up on a Black girl,” a child said at another point.
When a member of the group asked why she would not fight, the girl on the e-bike, Amor’s daughter, responded, “I don’t want to.”
“I just want to go home,” she said.
As the confrontation escalated, a child in a green shirt who had been standing in front of Amor’s daughter grabbed the front basket on the e-bike, continuing to block her path. Another child instructed someone to stand behind the e-bike to block that route as well.
Toward the end of the video, a member of the group slapped the girl on the e-bike, leading to a physical altercation.
As the video cuts out, another child on an e-bike appears to pull out a cellphone to record the fight from the other side.
On March 7, the Carlsbad Police Department and the school district released a joint statement saying they “take incidents involving accusations of bullying, harassment, and discriminatory language that may be deemed as a hate crime seriously.”
A police report was taken, and CPD is investigating the incident, though additional details could not be released because it involves juveniles, according to the statement.
Spokespeople for the school district and CPD could not be reached on Monday after The Coast News left voicemails seeking updates on the investigation.
Hundreds of people from across Southern California attended the board meeting to express outrage over the video and to support Amor, according to NBC7’s Shandel Menezes.
Amor thanked members of the Black community who supported her, as well as others from the broader community united in fighting what she called “racism that is very much alive in this community.”
Yusef Miller, executive director of the North County Equity and Justice Coalition, said this is a “very serious and critical issue.”
“I want to disabuse us of the idea that this is not who we are — that this is not Carlsbad, this is not Encinitas, this is not Oceanside,” Miller told the school board. “Please. That statement is old and tired. This is us. What we need from you is to do something about it.”
Amor said her daughter had previously been suspended from school in an earlier incident that she said was also instigated by racism directed at her and other Black students.
“When my daughter asked one of the kids why he was not suspended, he replied, ‘Because I’m White and my parents have money,’” Amor said. “Now, whether this is true or not, that is the mentality here in this city.
“No one’s generational wealth or lack of melanin should excuse them from consequences of their poor choices.”
Amor said she was disappointed by the school’s handling of the prior suspension and by what she described as a delayed investigation.
“All the kids involved — including those who sat and did nothing but record and instigate — must be prosecuted,” she said. “The school needs to do more to keep the n-word out of these students’ mouths, and the community has to do more to protect our children outside of school hours.”
