Ben Cleeton

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Students Planned a ‘Gangsta Night’ Event. Some Thought It Was Racist.

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Clients: The New York Times The Washington Post

School: Syracuse University

WINDSOR, NY – MONDAY ... Cleeton for The New York Times

WINDSOR, NY – MONDAY JANUARY 10, 2022: Windsor Central High School, the location of a racist student-organized theme night called “Gangsta Night.”

CREDIT: Ben Cleeton for The New York Times

ENDICOTT, NY – SUNDAY... Cleeton for The New York Times

ENDICOTT, NY – SUNDAY JANUARY 9, 2022: Portrait of Kashif Summers near his home. Summers is the coach of the girls’ basketball team and the only Black teacher at Windsor Central High School, a nearly all-white school in upstate New York. At least half his team participated in a racist student-organized theme night called “Gangsta Night.”

CREDIT: Ben Cleeton for The New York Times

ENDICOTT, NY – SUNDAY JANUARY 9, 2022: Kashif Summers, the coach of the girls’ basketball team and the only Black staff member at the school in upstate New York, said he was troubled by “Gangsta Night.”

CREDIT: Ben Cleeton for The New York Times

BINGHAMTON, NY – MOND... Cleeton for The New York Times

BINGHAMTON, NY – MONDAY JANUARY 10, 2022: “It really affects me even to this day,” said JaVanté Owens, a former student who spoke of a “toxic” atmosphere at the school.

CREDIT: Ben Cleeton for The New York Times

BINGHAMTON, NY – MONDAY JANUARY 10, 2022: Portrait of JaVanté Owens near her home. Owens graduated from Winsor Central High School in 2017, the location of a racist student-organized theme night called “Gangsta Night.” When she was in drama class the instructor demanded that she keep putting talcum powder on her face, more than her white counterparts, because her skin “was too dark.”

CREDIT: Ben Cleeton for The New York Times

KIRKWOOD, NY- MONDAY JANUARY 10... Cleeton for The New York Times

KIRKWOOD, NY- MONDAY JANUARY 10, 2022: Portrait of Amanda Brown near her home. She graduated from Winsor Central High School in 2018. The school was the location of a racist student-organized theme night called “Gangsta Night.” She said she never felt safe at school because of the torrent of antisemitic jokes.

CREDIT: Ben Cleeton for The New York Times

KIRKWOOD, NY- MONDAY JANUARY 10, 2022: Amanda Brown, a former student, said the school didn’t address racial and cultural issues, including the appearance of a swastika in a classroom.

CREDIT: Ben Cleeton for The New York Times

WINDSOR, NY – MONDAY JANUARY 10, 2022: Windsor Central High School is in rural New York, about 16 miles from Binghamton.

CREDIT: Ben Cleeton for The New York Times