Disturbing signs have been consistently popping up at a California high school for almost a month now. According to the San Francisco Gate, on Nov. 18, Alameda High School Principal Robert Ithurburn sent out a newsletter informing parents, students and staff that racist messages were left on the campus.

The findings included hate symbols, racial slurs and the words “whites only” and “Blacks only” written within the building. School officials say this isn’t the first time an incident like this has happened. “Sadly, it seems like annually I am having to report [on] some incident of bigotry, hate speech or racism that we have had on campus,” Ithurburn’s newsletter stated. “This week, we discovered three taggings at school: One was the scratching of the N-word into a stairwell wall; one was the tagging of the N-word along with a swastika in a restroom; and one was the writing of ‘whites only’ and ‘Blacks only’ on the mirrors above two sinks in the same restroom the day prior,” the principal shared.

Susan Davis of the Alameda Unified School District addressed the troubling incidents in an email to the outlet. “Despite our strong commitment to providing inclusive classrooms and campuses, from time to time bias-related incidents, such as racist or antisemitic graffiti, do occur on our campuses,” Davis admitted. According to records, the city of Alameda has relatively low race-related crime statistics. Between 2010 and 2021, 20 racially motivated hate crimes were logged. The small town is on an island where majority of the population is white and Asian. Sources say racist incidents in the area spiked when Donald Trump became president.

Davis continued to condemn the hate speech found within the walls of the school. “Alameda High School and the Alameda Unified School District are deeply committed to both creating safe places for students and staff and creating campus cultures that embody the principles of ‘Everyone Belongs Here,’” she told the San Francisco Gate yesterday (Dec. 1).