Nearly 300 South Cobb High School students walked out of class at 2 p.m. on Friday to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — joining a national day of walkouts and protests . They marched for an hour along Austell Road, which borders the school, holding signs and chanting slogans like “F–k ICE,” while passing motorists largely honked in support.
“To know that my family is at risk of being torn apart, just because of where they’re originally from is heartbreaking,” said Arianna Dewar, a 15-year-old sophomore who helped organize the walkout. Her parents are both naturalized American citizens — her mother from Cuba and her father from Jamaica by way of Canada. “I just needed the word to get out so people can really stand for what’s right,” she said.
The South Cobb students walked out on Jan. 30, undeterred by a threat from Cobb County Schools to suspend them for 10 days, several told Atlanta Civic Circle.
Cobb Schools in a Jan. 27 statement, accused “external groups” of recruiting students to protest against ICE. “While we respect the right of students to express their views in a non-disruptive way, students are expected to be in class,” the statement said.
Any students who walked out would face consequences that included “out-of-school suspension and the potential loss of parking privileges, sports, and extracurricular privileges,” the statement said. “Each has long-lasting impacts that could be taken into account by college admission offices and future employers.”
But that didn’t stop the students at South Cobb. “A lot of students here are immigrants, so we had to stand up for them,” said Christian Silver, a 17-year-old junior who helped organize the walkout.
Several students with immigrant parents from Central America said they were afraid to be quoted for the safety of their parents, even though they themselves are US citizens.
Some South Cobb students said they felt emboldened to walk out because of a Jan. 29 statement of support from Cobb County’s Democratic legislators, which opposed the threats made by Cobb Schools.
“Punishing students for practicing their First Amendment rights as Americans contradicts these values and risks discouraging students from learning how to responsibly advocate for themselves and their communities,” said the statement, signed by Reps. Solomon Adesanya, Lisa Campbell, Terry Cummings, Sheila Jones, Mekyah McQueen, Gabriel Sanchez, Mary Frances Williams, and Sen. Jaha Howard.
Concerns about student safety and school operations “should be balanced with students’ constitutionally protected rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly,” the Cobb legislators said.
One student said their statement gave him the courage to walk out and protest ICE — but he still asked that his name not be used for fear of punishment from the Cobb school district. The student said he was angered by ICE and Border Patrol agents fatally shooting Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, and news reports of ICE and Border Patrol agents sexually abusing detainees.
“We want ICE out of our city,” the student said.
Sophomore at South Cobb, I led us. The faulty republic-behaving school system of ours will not succeed in scaring us. Despite what mislead people think about this generation, we’re too smart for them to shove propaganda down our throats and expect us to swallow.
Good for you! Their threats of college admissions and future employment is complete BS. Colleges are where historical protests have always begun. Employers don’t gaf about high school. They tried to scare you into submission, and you called their bluff.
Thank you for having the guts to walk out and stand against ICE. It is also important to realize with the Cobb Cty School Board saying we are going to destroy your life if you walk out is just another example of the type of Fascist gov’t you are dealing with. The media has done a piss poor job of talking about the CCTy board response.