Rumors of RACE WAR nix "Diversity" celebration.

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'Race war' rumors postpone assembly at Highland High

An assembly meant to celebrate cultural diversity at Highland High School Tuesday is being postponed due to racial tensions on campus.

KOB Eyewitness News 4 first reported Friday how the Albuquerque Police Department got involved because of rumors of a "race war."

So far no fights have been reported, only rumors.

KOB spoke with parent Troy Jarvis who said he sought out Highland High School as the ideal environment for his daughter Breanna.

"One of the things we looked at Highland High School is that it was the most diverse school in the city and we wanted our children to be part of that," Jarvis said.

A cultural celebration was schedule to happen Tuesday at Highland.

"Because there was such tension that was in the school, they were afraid to do it so they had to put it on hold," said Highland Sophomore Breanna Jarvis.

Albuquerque Public Schools said racial tensions did in fact play a role in the postponement but also said the unrest is limited to a fraction of the students.

Rumors of a big rumble have kept the Albuquerque Police Department gang unit on campus this week.

"Rumors I've heard are there was going to be a race war and they were coming on campus with weapons and they were going to target all the black girls first," Breanna Jarvis said.

Breanna's father said school staff and parents should have been proactive and should have been listening to kids' concerns over the past few weeks about brewing racial tension on campus.

"Things have been said, things have been rumored and no one has taken action and all of the sudden you have this potential race war. So what are you going to do now? It's going to be hard to calm this thing down," Jarvis said.

Hard but not impossible.

Jarvis said he will be talking with his daughter about tolerance and said all parents should do the same.

Breanna said despite the troubles, Highland is still a great school.

"Highland has great potential, it really does. I mean it just seems sometimes as a school we don't use it the way we should," Breanna said.

Albuquerque Public Schools administration said school staff is working with students to defuse the tension.

The district said the multicultural assembly is planned for sometime after the Thanksgiving holiday.

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