Civil Rights Center Executive Director Press Conference Statement

Phoenix, Arizona. The Civil Rights Center, Inc., is a 501(c)3 Non-profit
whose main focus is Civil Rights advocacy in Arizona federally-funded
public schools.

Initially, I'd to thank the Puente Organization, Tonatierra and the
many CDB committees which have been formed by Puente in their
advocacy efforts to help defend communities throughout the Valley.

The Civil Rights Center is here today mainly because we were asked
to come to the Washington School District (WESD6) and help balance
the tables of justice and fight the many federal Civil Rights abuses
and subsequent violations, which were initially triggered on
September 16, 2010, on the Manzanita school campus.

Civil Rights violations on the Manzanita campus which were allowed
to occur while four entities that draw Federal assistance stood by
and did nothing to mitigate nor prevent the hateful verbal and
illustrative discriminatory actions that originated on school property,
and which were clearly aimed at the "brown-skinned and Limited
English Proficiency (LEP) residents/students" of the Manzanita
Elementary School surrounding community.

As Executive Director of the Civil Rights Center, Inc., I personally
performed a multi-week investigation of the September 16, 2010
hateful immigration protest, which was allowed to occur with the
school Principal, Mr. Tim Fountain, being on campus before the
incident and while the racial incident occurred. In early February
2011, I filed a 166-page United States Department of Education,
Office for Civil Rights (OCR) complaint with the OCR Regional Director,
Ms. Mary Lou Mobley, out of the OCR Denver, Colorado office.

The complaint alleges a few federal discriminatory violations covered
under Title VI CRA 1964 and it clearly names four entities that we
feel racially-failed the "brown-skinned and LEP residents/students"
of the Manzanita school community. The WESD6, MCSO, City of
Phoenix Police Department and the City of Phoenix Council Vice
Mayor, Ms. Thelda Williams, have all been named in the said racial
complaint.

The Federal complaint also paints a picture that some
"brown-skinned and LEP residents" of the Manzanita school are not
worthy of a meeting with the WESD6 in attempting to question and
solve the identified racial issues of September 16, 2010. There are
"brown-skinned and LEP residents" who feel they have been treated
like second-class residents of the WESD6.

We have received the first letter from OCR. Denver and we
whole-heartedly anticipate our second letter in due time. It is our
understanding that our filed complaint is being reviewed in the OCR
Denver and a single-point-of-contact Attorney Advisor has been
appointed in Denver to oversee the review.

For those who do not know, this is the fourth Civil Rights
issue/complaint which the Civil Rights Center is carefully overseeing
versus Maricopa County. At this time I am not prepared to discuss
the previous three Civil Rights submittals versus Maricopa County. I
will say that I am the one that filed the massive civil rights
allegations versus MCSO back in February 2008, which recently
caused the USDOJ Civil Rights Division to sue MCSO, Maricopa County
Board of Supervisors and Sheriff Arpaio for not releasing documents,
allowing inspections of the jails nor allowing interviews of MCSO
personnel.

Just as I felt comfortable that the USDOJ Federal investigators would
come based on my Title VI CRA 1964 allegations versus Maricopa
County, MCSO, Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and Sheriff
Arpaio, I am even more confident that the OCR. Denver federal
investigators will visit WESD6 in due time.

It is time the WESD6 join the 21st Century and obey all laws,
especially federal Civil Rights laws that WESD6 signs for when they
accept federal funds every school year. It is also time someone
inside the WESD6 addressed the failed Principal at the Manzanita
Elementary school. We will not sit back and allow "brown-skinned
and LEP residents/students" to be intimidated, harassed and
discriminated on federally-funded school grounds. The Principal at
the Manzanita Elementary School campus -Mr. Tim Fountain- needs
to go!

Also the WESD6 needs to shut the doors to all of Sheriff Arpaio's
future requests to come onto any WESD6 federally-funded school
campus. We, here today, will not sit back and allow the WESD6 and
MCSO to continue the racism and discrimination versus
"brown-skinned and LEP residents/students" on federally-funded
school grounds.

We anxiously await OCR. Denver's next letter and the hopeful
commencement of the onsite investigation inside WESD6 so all filed
discriminatory and racial allegations versus the WESD6 can be
investigated, documented and fixed.

We certainly hope surrounding school districts heed our message as
well because we will address any and all school districts that violate
Civil Rights laws on school campus like WESD6 did on September 16,
2010.

By Silverio Garcia, Jr. March 8, 2011

Silverio Garcia, Jr. Executive Director
of the Civil Rights Center, Inc.
submmitted a federal complaint
against four government agencies.
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