Justice For Amari
What Happened
Three white students at Immanuel Christian School, in Northern Virginia, assaulted 12 year old Amari Allen as she was going down the school’s playground slide. “They put their hands over my mouth. They put my hands behind my back. And they started cutting my hair and saying it was ugly," - Amari Allen shared with Fox 5’s Reporter Tisha Lewis when she sat down with the family. Amari further explained more about the incident, “They kept calling me names like ugly and I shouldn’t have been born, I don’t deserve any of this”.
The boys used scissors to cut her dreadlocks that used to be down her back and are now just under her shoulders. Amari's mother, Cynthia Allen, said that when she confronted the head of school, Stephen Danish, he said, "I’m sorry, I don’t know, we have failed".
Who It Happened To
Amari Allen is a violin player and Straight-A student at Immanuel Christian School student. Allen has enjoying being a student at the Northern Virginia school since kindergarten. “What I would like to see done is that these young men that there be some type of consequences for their actions. What consequence, I don’t know but stern enough for them to know that this is not accepted." - Cynthia Allen shared with Fox 5 Reporter Tisha Lewis.
When It Happened
The incident occurred Monday, September 23rd during recess under the supervision of one teacher who was overseeing thirty 5th and 6th graders. Amari stated that the teacher was assisting another situation during her attack.
The three students who cut Amari's locs have bullied Allen since the beginning of the school year. They have habitually taken her lunch and eating the food in front of her while saying she should “just starve”. She kept all of this to herself out of fear of the three boys and felt that nothing would change even if she told the teachers.
It wasn’t until Amari’s family noticed patches missing from her hair when Amari finally broke down in tears and told her family what happened.
Where it Happened
The school was heavily secured on this day. A local Fairfax policeman is regularly stationed at the school. Members of the secret service are also present each Monday since Karen Pence, wife of Vice President Mike Pence, became a part time art teacher at this school. The school also has their own church and school security. The question then lies, with all of this security, how was a child subject to assault without any authority figure noticing what happened.
School administrators reportedly asked the family not to post about the incident on social media and said that the school would like to handle this the “Godly way.”
The school is already under heat for it’s policy against the lgtbqt+ community. HuffPost recently conducted an investigation into discriminatory admissions practices, where HuffPost learned the school's 2018 employment application makes candidates sign a pledge not to engage in homosexual activity or violate the “unique roles of male and female.”
On page 2 of Immanuel Christian School's Essentials of Faith 2018 Parental Agreement states:
I understand that the school reserves the right, within its sole discretion, to refuse admission to an applicant or to discontinue enrollment of a student if the atmosphere or conduct within a particular home, the activities of a parent or guardian, or the activities of the student are counter to, or are in opposition to, the biblical lifestyle the school teaches.
This includes, but is not limited to contumacious behavior, divisive conduct, and participating in, supporting, or condoning sexual immorality, homosexual activity or bi-sexual activity, promoting such practices, or being unable to support the moral principles of the school.
[Link to download Immanuel Christian School's Essentials of Faith 2018 Parental Agreement]
What is being done
The school and the local police department are undergoing an investigation into this incident. As the individuals involved in the alleged attack are minor's, further information cannot be disclosed per Virginia's Law, Code: Va. Code Ann. § 16.1-301.
While an investigation is underway, the alleged attackers are reported to still remain at school.
Amari’s mother made it clear that while she wants repercussions for the boys actions, she does not want to see them in jail. She tells Fox 5, “I’m not looking for them to be thrown behind bars and in juvenile, No, that is not what I’m asking for. Maybe they need to be suspended. Maybe they need to be expelled from school. Because you feel like this is a privilege and then you take your privilege to a whole nother level and you bully. You belong here but someone else doesn’t. No, there needs to be some consequences."
