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'Jump White People' Graffiti Mars NYC Elem. School

Words Have Been Found Scrawled On Walls, Desks, Teachers' Cars

NEW YORK (CBS) ― Parents, students and administrators at a Brooklyn elementary school are prodding the Department of Education to help catch the culprits behind a rash of recent racist graffiti that tells those who read it to "jump white people."

The words have most recently been broken down into an abbreviation, "JWP," which on Friday could still be seen scrawled on a gray bin in one classroom. The disturbing graffiti has plagued P.S. 224 in East, N.Y. for the last three weeks, showing up at least a dozen times on school walls, desks, the school playground, and even on two teachers' cars.

Several fifth graders told CBS 2 they were upset by the words.

"I think theya re doing bad things. Sometimes when you find people like that you try to stay away from these people," said 11-year-old student Shamel Jones.

"It stands for 'beat up the white people,'" said Darius Blackwood, 11. "It's bad for everyone because it's not fair to beat up other people."

Many parents dropping off their children Friday morning said they knew nothing of the problem, and school employees told CBS 2 they were forbidden to discuss it.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Education issued a statement about the graffiti, saying: "This is a serious concern and we are investigating the issue."

The school's faculty agrees, however, that not enough has been done to remedy the situation. Forty staff members signed a letter to the principal and schools chancellor asking for more action to be taken. They want letters sent home to parents and a meeting for students in each grade.

So far, four students, ages 8 to 11, have been disciplined because of the graffiti, but the threatening messages have continued to show up.

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