OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — Local families and students are reacting to hate-filled imagery and language written across part of their school.
“There are a lot of communities going to be hurting today,” said Gavriela Geller, the executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Bureau and American Jewish Committee.
That hurt, coming from racist graffiti inside the stadium and on doors at Blue Valley High School.
On Tuesday, the school was free of the paint and graffiti, but a reminder of the hate speech and slurs still whispered throughout the school.
“You could hear it in the halls or every class you were in,” said Michael Leach, a student at Blue Valley High School.
KSHB 41 also spoke with his mother about the incident.
“He’s like, ‘Oh mom, it was terrible,’ Andrea Leach said. "It really is hard to believe someone would do that."
Now, the Overland Park Police Department and the school district are working to address the incident.
She believes it’s being handled correctly, but said it doesn’t make it any easier on students.
“It’s like a gut punch for the students who attend that school,” she said. “It’s really difficult to go to school the next day to think — who in here hates me because of who I am? Who in here maybe wants violence against me?”
Michael Leach told KSHB 41 he was shocked by the vandalism.
“I would never expect it to be at our school,” Leach said.
But for Geller, it wasn't that much of surprise.
“This is not shocking at all for us," she said.
Geller says antisemitism is at an all-time high, including in schools.
She surveyed teens in the Kansas City area, and out of 83 teenagers, 81% of them experienced antisemitism at school.
Geller wants police to find who did this, so they can understand the gravity of their actions and their impact on communities.
On Wednesday, a Kansas City Council committee is hearing a resolution in committee to define antisemitism.
Geller says this will help agencies who respond to these types of crimes, because antisemitism isn’t always a straightforward picture of a swastika.
“We can’t fight what we can’t define," she said. "Antisemitism, unlike some other forms of hatred really can exist in dog whistles, and in code words. It can be right in front of your face, and you cannot realize it’s there if you’re not educated on what it looks like.”
In the meantime, Geller encourages parent to talk to kids about how they can stand up for themselves or others.
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