NEW YORK'S 'DIGNITY FOR ALL STUDENTS' ACT: Bill Addresses Tension Between Asian & Black Students.
Violence rises between Asian and African American Students in NY Schools

(May. 14, 2004) Civil Rights laws are kicking up in New York with the rising tension between Asian and African American students in New York's public high schools. A proposed state law focusing on prohibiting discrimination and harassment of students in public schools on the basis of race, color and sexual orientation will now probably pick up in its progress.

The Dignity for All Students Act was passed by the New York State Assembly. In order to become law it still has to be passed by the State Senate and Governor George Pataki must sign the bill into law.

The bill sets guidelines and policies for how schools can best remedy incidents of harassment or discrimination and incidents must be reported. Some New York City school authorities have denied that Asians are targeted for more bullying and harassment than students of other ethnicities.

But at a recent public hearing, parents and students from the Korean and Chinese American community said Asian students are becoming the target of physical attacks and verbal harassment, particularly by African American students, and that they were being picked on because of their ethnicity.