HAITIAN COMMUNITY DEMANDS ACTION FROM MAYOR BLOOMBERG

On March 16, 2005, Mrs. Miller ordered 13 Haitian students to sit on the cafeteria floor, made them use their finger to eat their lunch as other students watched and told them, “In Haiti, they treat you like animals, and I will treat you the same way here.” and Mrs. Shakespeare bribes the children with ice cream to change their and story and cover up for her assistant principal.
NAAHD demands that the Department of Education to fire Miller and Mrs. Shakespeare, these officials should not be transferred to another school where they will simply continue to abuse “our children.”
“Injustice to children anywhere is a threat to children everywhere” said Nod Dorcilien, founder of NAAHD,” and we call for Mayor Bloomberg to hold a press conference to inform the general public, and particularly the Haitian community, as to what his administration will do about the child abuse incident at P.S. 34. The Haitian community feels that this incident was based solely on race, nationality, and the complete degradation of these children.
NAAHD and the Haitian community expect the following:
§ Appointment of an Independent Investigator;
§ Public disclosure of how the matter is to be investigated;
§ Counseling for each student who was abused in the matter, if necessary;
§ Monitoring of the development of each student affected by the incident;
§ Special assistance that is now or may be required for the best educational and emotional development of the individual students;
§ A budget that would support a cultural and educational program that teaches and celebrates the diversity of the Queens Caribbean cultures and, in particular, Haitian and Haitian-American History;
§ Financial compensation for the children who suffered discrimination based on their nationality and humiliated, as well as for their families.

These remedies will only begin to readdress the grievances of these children and their families NAAHD is monitoring and expects to hear from Mayor Bloomberg.