“Stop Spreading Lies”

January 3, 2006

Dear Editor:

I am a Samohi senior who is writing this letter to set the record straight regarding School Board member Oscar de la Torre and the peace mediators he brought to campus after the race riots broke out on April 15th, 2005.

Your story on main events for 2005 stated that his visit was “without district approval.” Isn’t he supposed to ensure that the school is safe and why does he need approval when he is elected to keep us safe? From my view, Mr. de la Torre was needed to help mediate the conflict on campus because the administration lost control of the situation. He brought peace mediators on to campus, and I witnessed him follow appropriate procedure by signing in at the front office.

The problem was not with how he visited the school but that the police falsely labeled his guests as “Hispanic gang” members. But honestly most kids involved in the fights respect Oscar and his friends more than the 20 police that were on campus, who never tried talking to us like Oscar and his friends did. The Police Chief James Butts, who is black, did not send the right message to the black and Latino students who were fighting by publicly demonizing Latinos who seek peace.

The fact is that the students and the administration are the ones to blame for the fights. Mr. de la Torre and his guests were on campus five days after the fights, and they did bring peace to the school. It is unfortunate that the police chose to label Mr. Steven Luciano, one of Oscar’s guests, as an active "Hispanic" gang member, when he is 100 percent European American. But if this is the case, why was he on a panel on December 17, 2005 at John Adams Middle School talking to parents, students and police about preventing gang violence and drug abuse? Why would an active “gang member” who is labeled a “shot caller” by police visit a school where 20 police are present to talk about peace? Who is really the crook?

The Chief of Police needs to apologize for publicly labeling people who are trying to build peace as “gang members” and then publishing their addresses in the paper. That was a cowardly act, maybe illegal, since Mr. Luciano is a father and the police’s action endangered his children’s lives. But people in power set the rules and also, as I have learned, label people to degrade them.

Finally, what are the other School Board members doing to make things better? Mr. de la Torre is the only one who I see take initiative and is out there every day working to improve our youth and community. He grew up on my street, the poorest part of Santa Monica, completed his college degree and returned to our community to start a youth center. In addition, his work has led to major change in the community. He has helped transform the lives of at-risk youth and this has led to creating a safer community.

You would think that someone in power would recognize his accomplishments. I can’t say that a million dollar increase in police can do what he has done to bring peace and safety to Samohi and community. I have recently learned that Oscar served as student body president at Samohi in 1990 and worked at Samohi also. Mr. de la Torre is a role model for many of the youth in the community. Stop spreading the lies that others in power spread about him.

Alejandro Rodriguez