According to news reports, poorer areas of Iran, including communities where people of African descent live, have been among the first harmed.
Others live there, too. It is not known how many of the girls killed at the bombed school were of African descent, but they were God’s children, and many were poor. This remains an actively developing story, and some details have not been independently verified.
What has been reported: On Feb. 28, the first day of the war, the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ elementary school in the Shahrak-e Al-Mahdi neighborhood of Minab, in Hormozgan province in southern Iran, was destroyed by a missile strike. According to Iranian state media, at least 175 people were killed, more than 100 of them schoolchildren. That is a tragedy no matter their background.
The school was attended by a mix of children from military families and local residents, some drawn by relatively low tuition. That suggests some of the girls may have come from lower-income families, though that has not been fully documented.
The population of Minab includes Arab, Persian and Baloch communities, as well as descendants of African traders tied to Indian Ocean trade routes. The region’s history suggests the possibility that some of the victims were of African descent, but that has not been confirmed.
Amnesty International, which interviewed a teacher in Minab and a Baluchi human rights defender, reported that victims included children of military personnel and low-income families, including members of Iran’s Baluchi minority. The Afro-Iranian community in Hormozgan is historically documented, though the demographic makeup of the school population has not been independently verified.
I would not support the killing of any children, including those of Islamic Revolutionary Guard members. Children do not deserve to have their lives taken because of decisions made by adults.
How does a president tell the people he represents that the federal government exists only for military protection — not Medicaid, Medicare or child care — and then suggest that states simply raise taxes to cover the rest? It is easy to dismiss the things American families depend on — education, health care and basic necessities — when you are not the one going without. Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth are acting irresponsibly.
This war does not appear to have broad public support, and members of Congress were not consulted, according to multiple reports. People struggling to afford gas, food, college tuition or housing did not vote for leadership focused primarily on war while domestic needs remain pressing.
May God help our country and protect us from its leaders. Thanks to Pope Leo XIV for speaking out against war.
E. Faye Williams is president of The Dick Gregory Society, which preserves the legacy of the late comedian, civil rights activist, health advocate and St. Louis native.