10-Year-Old Black Girl Arrested At School In Hawaii For Drawing A Picture Of Her Bully

Black Student Arrested For Drawing A Picture Of Her Bully

A Black student in Oahu, Hawaii was arrested last January after she reportedly drew a picture of her bully, and now her family is seeking legal action against Honowai Elementary.

The ACLU of Hawaii has called on local officials to compensate the child and her mother with $500,000 in damages as school staff should be prohibited from contacting the police unless there is a threat that will significantly harm an individual.

Mateo Cabellero, the family’s attorney, said in a statement that the police were called after the alleged bully’s mother found out about the drawing and demanded police arrest the 10-year-old student identified as N.B.

“The next day, a parent of one of the kids who received this drawing, was very upset and essentially demanded that they call the police. We don’t want it to be about the drawing. This is about a 10-year-old Black girl who was arrested and there was no reason to believe that she was violent. She didn’t bring any any weapons to school, she didn’t make any explicit threats to anyone.”

N.B.’s mother, Tamara Taylor, was also detained at the school after officials refused to allow her to see her daughter.

“I was stripped of my rights as a parent and my daughter was stripped of her right to protection and representation as a minor. There was no understanding of diversity, African-American culture and the history of police involvement with African-American youth,” she said.

“My daughter and I are traumatized from these events and I’m disheartened to know that this day will live with my daughter forever.”