Kardin Ulysse, 14, was left blind in one eye after a brutal attack by bullies in Roy H. Mann Junior High School in Brooklyn. He was attacked by two seventh graders, who shouted anti-gay slurs as they assaulted him. According to a Department of Education occurrence report, they called him “f—–g f—-t," a “p—-," a “transvestite" and “gay." Ulysse has undergone two surgeries on his right eye since the June 5th attack and has yet to regain vision. “I can't see from my right eye," Ulysse said. “I can't see from it at all." Pierre Ulysse – the boy's father – said at a news conference that the bullies were “beating him, kicking him, punching him in the face many, many times." The doctors are not sure whether the blindness is a result of the punches or a shard of glass from Kardin's glasses. In either case, the doctors say that Kardin will need a cornea transplant. Pierre Ulysse has added that his son has been bullied for some time. Last October, another student attacked him and tried to steal his lunch money. Ulysse informed a Roy H. Mann dean, but the administration failed to react. Roy H. Mann Junior High School is not without a history of violence. Last year, parents of another 13-year-old student filed a law suit against the school, contending a pattern of bullying. Moreover, a DOE survey last year stated that 63 percent of the students reported that their classmates were harassed and 40 percent of the students didn't feel safe in the building. Although the two bullies have been charged with misdemeanors in family court, Ulysse's family is calling for investigations to charge them with committing a hate crime. The family is also suing the Roy H. Mann Junior High School and the city for $16 million. Pierre Ulysse stated that it is absurd to send his son to school with two eyes and have him come back with one. He added, “I want the world to know about this."
