On the edge of the Mojave Desert in California, educators, political leaders, and students face the dangers of bullying after teen suicides devastate two nearby towns. A local middle school counselor initiates an anti-bullying program throughout the district and students take the lead in standing up to hate in their community. This story is part of the Not In Our Town program, Class Actions, that premieres nationwide on PBS stations in February 2012.
What began as one educator’s effort to create a safer environment for her middle school campus blossomed into a citywide movement.
Blog
February 9, 2012 - 4:49pm
"Bloomington, Indiana: United and Ready to Respond to Hate" is part of the Not In Our Town program, Class Actions, that premieres nationwide on PBS stations in February 2012.
When a string of anti-Semitic acts rocked the college town of Bloomington, Ind. just before Hanukkah in 2010, the town knew how to respond.
Bloomington’s quick and supportive response from the city’s university, police, city, and community leaders comes from experience. The community group Bloomington United was first brought together by the mayor when former Indiana University student and white supremacist Ben Smith started spreading white supremacist and anti-Semitic flyers around town. Several months later, Korean doctoral student Won-Joon Yoon was fatally shot on his way to Bloomington’s Korean Methodist Church, the last killing during Smith’s two-state shooting spree.
February 9, 2012 - 4:39pm
Watch the Class Actions opening scene
Not In Our Town: Class Actions premieres Monday, Feb. 13. Tune in and join the movement to stop hate and bullying.
1. Spread the word
February 8, 2012 - 9:33am
At the University of Mississippi, a segregationist chant and Ku Klux Klan rally threaten to divide the campus community, but student leaders and their chancellor take a stand against hate and intolerance. This story is part of the Not In Our Town program, Class Actions, that aired on PBS stations in February 2012. Many conflicts over the legacy of slavery and the Confederacy have occurred since this program was produced. This story profiles action led by students and supported by the University's Chancellor to involve the whole campus in standing up to racism and hate.
A chant with a racist history
February 7, 2012 - 4:54pm
"An attack against one person in our community is an attack against all of us." It's a common feeling among Not In Our Town leaders and it was also the message from San Jose City Councilwoman Rose Herrera, speaking at a press conference yesterday.