Her friend, Emily Bailey, agreed, and said she’s received worse treatment while living in the Haverford area than she has in more racially mixed communities. “Every time something happens, it’s not the white kid who gets it. And she thinks black boys, like her son, are routinely singled out for bad behavior. Wadiya Ferguson, who is black, said her family had been racially profiled several times, including one incident where FBI agents arrived at her house because someone at school claimed her son sympathized with terrorists. WHYY thanks our sponsors - become a WHYY sponsor

In interviews afterward, some residents reaffirmed the problems outlined by H-CAN and others rebutted them, claiming the attention caused by the report and subsequent news coverage has painted the community in a false light. Though calm pervaded the town hall - perhaps because of a format that forbade testimony and required residents to ask questions via notecards - the report has clearly struck a communal nerve. On Wednesday, H-CAN presented its findings at a standing-room-only meeting and school district officials got a chance to respond. It also alleged discriminatory discipline practices and bemoaned the underrepresentation of black students in advanced classes. The report, penned by a local activist group called H-CAN, detailed a series of anonymous complaints about racist language, offensive graffiti, discriminatory comments, and “microaggressions” in this upscale Delaware County suburb. As Wednesday’s packed town hall would suggest, a recent report on racism in the Haverford Township School District has residents’ attention.

Haverford township middle school