After five teenagers defaced a historic black schoolhouse in Virginia with racist and anti-Semitic graffiti last September, Judge Avelina Jacob handed down an unusual sentence: that they read one book each month for the next 12 months and write a report about it.
The
graffiti sprayed on the schoolhouse included swastikas, sexual images and the
phrases “brown power” and “white power.”
“It became
very apparent to us as we reviewed the facts, and their statements to detectives,
that these kids truly did not appreciate the significance or the meaning of
what they were drawing on the building," said Commonwealth's Attorney Jim
Plowman. "Because of this, we are
seizing the opportunity to treat this as an educational experience for these
young men so they may better appreciate the significance of their actions and
the impact this type of behavior has on communities and has had throughout
history" (https://www.loudoun.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=3756).
The books
were chosen based on their literary significance and/or their subject matter
content surrounding race, religion and discrimination. See the entire list from which the students
can choose their books: https://www.loudoun.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=3756.
This story
came to my attention though this article in The
New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/08/us/black-school-racist-sexist-graffiti.html?mwrsm=Facebook
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