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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| White high school student: ‘Black Lives’ don’t matter | White high school student: ‘Black Lives’ don’t matter |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| A viral video recording of a suburban white Maryland teenager disparaging the Black Lives Matter movement with inflammatory racist pronouncements has prompted a swift response from local school officials. | A viral video recording of a suburban white Maryland teenager disparaging the Black Lives Matter movement with inflammatory racist pronouncements has prompted a swift response from local school officials. |
| Howard County superintendent Renee Foose described the video as “disturbing,” and wrote a letter to parents Thursday noting that student’s comments offered “a teachable moment.” | Howard County superintendent Renee Foose described the video as “disturbing,” and wrote a letter to parents Thursday noting that student’s comments offered “a teachable moment.” |
| The 30-second video shows a student at Mt. Hebron High School, in Ellicott City, saying “who the [expletive] cares about some black man who dies?” The student goes on to say that black lives do not matter because “they are an inferior race, OK?” | The 30-second video shows a student at Mt. Hebron High School, in Ellicott City, saying “who the [expletive] cares about some black man who dies?” The student goes on to say that black lives do not matter because “they are an inferior race, OK?” |
| The video ends with the student grabbing a five-dollar bill and holding it up to the camera to display the face of president Abraham Lincoln. | The video ends with the student grabbing a five-dollar bill and holding it up to the camera to display the face of president Abraham Lincoln. |
| “This guy is a traitor to the white race,” the student said. | “This guy is a traitor to the white race,” the student said. |
| The video quickly gained momentum online and spread widely in recent days through social media platforms such as Tumblr and Twitter. | The video quickly gained momentum online and spread widely in recent days through social media platforms such as Tumblr and Twitter. |
| [Minority students in a Maryland school district make a video about their struggles] | [Minority students in a Maryland school district make a video about their struggles] |
| After the video caught attention of school officials, the student, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, posted a message on social media and apologized. | After the video caught attention of school officials, the student, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, posted a message on social media and apologized. |
| “I am learning from this mistake and hope to gain forgiveness from those who I hurt with my words,” he said. | “I am learning from this mistake and hope to gain forgiveness from those who I hurt with my words,” he said. |
| [Virginia high school students suspended for wearing Confederate flag apparel] | [Virginia high school students suspended for wearing Confederate flag apparel] |
| The video emerged amid a nationwide discussion on race in America’s public classrooms and college campuses. Earlier this month, schools officials in Phoenix suspended six white high school students who posed for a photograph wearing t-shirts with gold letters that alluded to the N-word. | |
| “My heart is heavy that today we have to stand before you to address an issue that’s very real in this world, and that situation is racial prejudice, racial slurs, that oftentimes we have become insensitive to,” Kenneth Baca, superintendent of Tempe Union High School District, said at a news conference Monday, Jan. 25. “We are outraged, we are saddened, but most importantly, we want to ensure that this never happens again.” | |
| In videos posted to the district’s website, school officials said the discipline process was ongoing for the students involved, whom they described as remorseful. | |
| “What’s going on in the culture of America where this was able to happen?” said Alyssa Stiggers, president of the black student union at the school, Desert Vista High. Stiggers said her organization would start a campaign to help teach the painful history of the slur. “It’s become socially acceptable for the n-word to be used on a regular basis.” | |
| In Berkeley, Calif., hundreds of high school students staged a protest after threats of a public lynching and references to the Ku Klux Klan were discovered on a school computer. | |
| [Berkeley High student admits to posting racist message that prompted protest] | |
| At the University of Missouri, a student effort surrounding racial tensions on campus led to massive protests, a near-boycott by the school’s football team and the resignation of the administration’s president and chancellor. | |
| The demonstrations by teens and college students have come as the Black Lives Matter movement has influenced the political conversation during an election year. Inspired by police-involved shootings against young black men, the Black Lives Matter has spurred demonstrations from Ferguson, Mo., where 18 year-old Michael Brown died in a scuffle with a white police officer, to Baltimore, where Freddie Gray, 25, died in a transport van while in police custody. | |
| In the Howard County incident, teenagers said that it came as little surprise that the video involved a student from Mt. Hebron, which is located about 14 miles west of Baltimore. | |
| Foose wrote in her letter that the video has been “offending many people of all races, and reflecting poorly on students directly involved and those who chose to stand silent. This behavior is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.” | |
| The video brought to light racial tensions that had crept in the shadows at Mt. Hebron. Students interviewed by The Post Thursday said that the school, which is majority white, has struggled with racist behavior by teens in the past. | The video brought to light racial tensions that had crept in the shadows at Mt. Hebron. Students interviewed by The Post Thursday said that the school, which is majority white, has struggled with racist behavior by teens in the past. |
| An area of the school where black students often congregate in between classes is referred to as “the jungle.” The students said it was not out of the ordinary to hear white students say racial epithets such as the “N word” in the hallways. | |
| One junior said in an interview that the video recording is just the latest instance of simmering racism at the school. She said that last year another student compared black people to “savages” and that white students at school sometimes overtly refer to black students as “monkeys,” or worse. | |
| The junior, who The Washington Post is not identifying because she is a minor, said that the video displays racist behavior that is common at Mt. Hebron. | |
| “It was not shocking because I know the type of people that go to my school,” the junior said. “It was jut the first time they’ve gotten caught.” | |
| Foose said the school is investigating the incident, which was made during a party at a student’s home in recent days. | Foose said the school is investigating the incident, which was made during a party at a student’s home in recent days. |
| Howard County schools spokesman John White said that Foose viewed the video on Thursday afternoon. | Howard County schools spokesman John White said that Foose viewed the video on Thursday afternoon. |
| “It’s not the type of behavior she would expect from our students,” he said. | “It’s not the type of behavior she would expect from our students,” he said. |
| In a “call to action,” Foose encouraged students to delete the video and refrain from sharing it. | In a “call to action,” Foose encouraged students to delete the video and refrain from sharing it. |
| “This is more than an example of irresponsible use of social media,” Foose wrote. “It is hateful. No Howard County public school student should engage in this type of conduct, nor do they need to be exposed to it.” | “This is more than an example of irresponsible use of social media,” Foose wrote. “It is hateful. No Howard County public school student should engage in this type of conduct, nor do they need to be exposed to it.” |
| But Foose’s message appeared to come too late. The video, she said in her letter, had already been shared hundreds of times online. | But Foose’s message appeared to come too late. The video, she said in her letter, had already been shared hundreds of times online. |
| It is also not the first time that the school has been forced to address overt forms of racism. In 2009, vandals broke into the school and scrawled “KKK” and drew Nazi swastikas on the walls. | It is also not the first time that the school has been forced to address overt forms of racism. In 2009, vandals broke into the school and scrawled “KKK” and drew Nazi swastikas on the walls. |
| In a letter to Mt. Hebron parents, principal Andrew Cockley wrote that he planned to meet with the teenagers involved in the video. | In a letter to Mt. Hebron parents, principal Andrew Cockley wrote that he planned to meet with the teenagers involved in the video. |
| “This is an incident when students were engaging in hateful conversations,” Cockley wrote. | “This is an incident when students were engaging in hateful conversations,” Cockley wrote. |
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