BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHTDaily Post Staff Writer
A former Mountain View High School student has filed a lawsuit alleging that he was subject to years of racism, including students calling him the N-word, football coaches making comments about his race and someone fabricating a racially charged quote of his in the yearbook.
“I can’t breathe,” the yearbook quote said, referencing the final words of George Floyd. The quote was attributed to student Amir Ware on the varsity football page, but Ware said he never submitted the quote.
Ware said he complained to Principal Kip Glazer and Superintendent Eric Volta, but they never publicly acknowledged what happened.
Ware is suing the Mountain View Los Altos High School District for racial discrimination, negligent supervision and inflicting emotional distress. “He was ostracized by his peers and experienced daily distress at school. Yet no investigation of racism against Mr. Ware ever occurred,” said the lawsuit, filed in federal court on Tuesday.
The Post couldn’t reach Volta on Friday to get the district’s side of the story.
Ware said he went to Mountain View High School for one week during his sophomore year before going on independent study after a series of racist comments from his peers.
Ware said the same thing happened as a junior, and he stuck around for a semester as a senior in the 2024-25 school year.
Constantly judged
On the football team, Ware said he was constantly judged for how he looked and treated differently because he was one of only five black players.
One white player repeatedly called Ware the “full N-word” with a hard “R,” the suit said.
Ware’s teammates and coaches teased him about his weight, joking that he was thin “just like a starving African child,” the suit said.
Coach Rick Esparza allegedly benched Ware for dropping a pass, while several white players kept playing after bigger errors, the suit said.
Ware said he tried to laugh off the daily episodes of racism, but he felt like he didn’t belong. He returned to independent study for his final semester of high school.
Ware said he discovered that the yearbook had printed the “I can’t breathe” quote on May 22, 2025, when fellow students frantically texted him.
Ware’s mom emailed Glazer and Volta to complain. Ware “was publicly shamed and disgraced and requested an equally public clarification and apology,” the suit said.
According to the lawsuit, Volta told Ware it “would be hard to make that happen” and offered instead to “put something” in the student newspaper. But no story ever came out.
Yearbook correction attempted
The school stopped handing out the yearbook six days later and asked students to bring back yearbooks they already had for an “immediate correction.”
The school put yellow tape or black marker over the quote in redistributed yearbooks, a photo in the suit shows.
But the tape only drew more attention to the quote, the suit said.
At a track and field banquet on June 3, Ware said he wasn’t acknowledged even though he broke school records and helped the team get to a state championship for the first time in school history.
Coach Mark Rutner apologized for the oversight after the banquet, an email shows.
Ware is now on the track team at College of San Mateo.
“To date, Mr. Ware has yet to receive any of the requested relief from the school,” said the suit, filed by attorney Carlos Rosario.
Looks like this young man is attempting a shakedown. Instead of pulling the race card to make a few bucks, why don’t you shake it off and get on with your life. Things will never be perfect. Life isn’t fair. Get off the ground, dust yourself off, get a haircut, put on a dress shirt, adopt a positive attitude and make something of your life. Quit feeling sorry for yourself.
This is a typical response from bigots who fail to grasp the history and reality of people who have endured hate in this country for generations. Your comment highlights the clear privilege of those who have benefited from the oppression of others. It’s always easy to judge when you’re not the subject of the action. You’re the textbook definition of a “keyboard warrior.”
Sean Allen – President San Jose/Silicon Valley NAACP
The NAACP is in the business of shakedowns, so Sean’s response is entirely expected. You guys show up outside a business, form a picket line led by a guy with a bullhorn. The news media shows up, takes pictures and does a one-sided story in favor of the picketers. Maybe you coach one of the picketers to cry for the camera. Odd thing is, the picketers don’t even work there. Then you quietly go to the owner of the business and say, “Look, if you cut me a check for $50,000, all of these picketers go away.” The business owner, who just wants to go back to doing business, is more than happy to comply.
To Jaime. What businesses gave money to end a picket of their business to the NAACP? Although you may have the right to say anything that you chose to, that statement is an outrageous lie. Please verify that statement or stop trying to malign and sully the reputation of the most esteemed, oldest and largest civil rights organization this country has ever known. Full disclosure :As a former Vice President for the California NAACP, I am insulted by your assertions and found it imperative to defend the thousands of NAACP civil rights volunteers, who are equally offended.
This answer will hit close to home for Sean, but the most famous shakedown in this county was the one the San Jose NAACP pulled on Cypress Semiconductor. But the CEO, TJ Rodgers, told the NAACP’s Rick Callender to go to hell. Callender walked away with no money. The protest fizzled out. Rodgers has written op-eds about it and told the story to different groups. Yeah, Sean, that was your organization. I’m not a bigot for remembering this. It actually happened.