Anti-immigration signs spark concerns at Erwin High

(Editor's note: For a follow-up to this story on Wednesday morning's meeting at Erwin High, click here.)

ASHEVILLE – Erwin High School will hold a community meeting Wednesday morning in the wake of concerns over signs posted outside a classroom as part of a homework assignment tied to immigration.

One sign read "Illegals Go Home." Another read "America is for Americans." Photos of the signs were posted on social media, prompting concerns from the community and students.

Students in an Erwin High civics and economics class were studying changing viewpoints on immigration, according to Brian Gonzales, social studies department chair.

"Essentially the overall assignment was dealing with the objective of how the United States historically has changed its perception and interpretation of the American identity based on those groups that have come over throughout the history of the United States," Gonzales said.

The teacher had an honors class and a standard class. Students in the honors class were asked to write an essay. Students in the standard class were asked to come up with a bumper sticker.

They were asked to create "a product that expressed various viewpoints," according to Gonzales.

Just a handful of the 30 or so signs reflected an anti-undocumented immigrant viewpoint, Gonzales said.

Other signs read, "No Human is Illegal" and "We are One."

But school officials say the signs should not have been placed in the hallway without the context of the lesson.

"I think stuck out there in the hall without any type of explanation or any type of putting things into context, it was quickly taken out of context. And of course once it got on Facebook, it took a life of its own," said Erwin High Principal Jim Brown.

Brown met with half of dozen people Tuesday morning who had concerns about the signs.

"They were here waiting for me before school began," Brown said. "As a result of that meeting, we thought it would be best to have another meeting tomorrow morning to invite additional folks to come in and be part of this discussion."

Angel Redmond, who has a ninth-grader at Erwin, is one of the people who met with the principal Tuesday. She learned about the signs via Facebook.

"I feel like everyone is opinionated, but the way those opinions were broadcast along the hallway was extremely offensive," Redmond said.

She said Wednesday's community meeting is needed.

"There's a conversation that needs to happen about cultural sensitivity when it comes down to expressing one's opinions," Redmond said.

The signs hung on the walls outside the classroom for a few hours Monday afternoon. When the school became aware of them, they were taken down.

Brown said he wants to hear and address community concerns at Wednesday's meeting. The meeting will also allow members of the community to hear from Gonzales and others at the school regarding the lesson. The meeting will take place at 7:30 a.m. at the school.

"I think the school acknowledges the concerns from students and parents who were offended by this, and I think in general the entire school feels a sense of sadness for those families that were understandably offended by this not knowing the context of what this is coming from," said Eric Grant, Buncombe County Schools English Language Arts and Social Studies specialist.