Posted on February 8, 2005

Brawl’s Effects Still Felt

Russell Rian, Dallas Morning News, Feb. 5

Ten students who elevated a longstanding verbal dispute into a fight last week are now assigned to the district’s alternative campus.

But that hasn’t put the incident to rest. Community debate has opened over whether an isolated dispute among a handful of students — five black and five Hispanic — simply got out of hand or whether the fight signals broader race-based conflicts in school hallways and the larger community.

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“Irving ISD is experiencing a culture shock right now,” as the community’s demographics shift from a predominantly white population a few decades ago to an increasingly minority one, he said. “They’ve not kept up.”

Ruben Franco, the school board’s vice president and its only Hispanic member, said he does not believe the fight last week reflects broader racial tensions. “There is tension among kids constantly,” he said. “Those kids were dealt with.”

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