DEARBORN — Last Friday a fight broke out at Edsel Ford High School in what many had described as a “racial war” between Arab American and African American students. In total seven students had been suspended from the school for being involved in two separate altercations that had taken place.

The exchange of verbal remarks led to two separate physical fights that had broken out in the hallways.

According to a letter sent out by Principal Hassane Jaafar to the students parents, the fight began at the end of second lunch, when a small group of African American students made insulting and derogatory remarks towards a group of Arab American students. Many students had claimed that tensions had been high after some of the students had attended a party the previous weekend.

The exchange of verbal remarks led to two separate physical fights that had broken out in the hallways. The first one took place near the attendance office between two students that had quickly been broken up. The second fight however was much larger, taking place in the school’s F-hall area where several students were yelling, pushing and punching each other. 

According to Principal Jaafar, that fight was eventually broken up by the school’s security guards, the school police officer as well as staff and administration. As a precautionary measure Dearborn Police were also called onto the scene. 

While there had been rumors that weapons might have been involved, Principal Jaafar denies this, also adding that racial incidents in the school’s diverse body, which includes 40% Arab students and a much smaller 5-6% population of African American students, hardly ever occur.  “The students who have low judgment and low control is very minimal in the school,” Principal Jaafar told us. “The two altercations occurred between passing time with 1500 kids walking in the hallways. When you have a few kids involved in a fight, of course it’s going to look bigger than it seems.” 

Principal Jaafar also said when incidents like this  occur they work to ensure the safety of other students. In this case an announcement was made over the PA system after the incident asking teachers not to issue out any hall passes to students during class time and to keep the hallways clear while the altercations had been under investigation.

At the end of the day students were able to go home as usual without any more incidents occurring. Two students were handcuffed and in total seven students involved in the disputes had been suspended. A few of the students involved in the fights had sustained minor injuries.