Two high school students in Albuquerque, New Mexico, have been suspended after they posted a photoshopped picture of a black classmate surrounded by Ku Klux Klan hoods on Snapchat.
Local news station KOB 4 reports that the students posted the photo on the school’s official Snapchat group, where it was seen by several other students before being removed.
“It was awful,” Mary Morrow-Webb, the mother of the student in the picture, told KOB 4. “It was frightening. I just really got sick to my stomach. I was afraid for my daughters and for the other children there that are at risk for these types of threats.”
“You don’t expect your kids going to school and having to deal with racism and discrimination in 2017,” said Lamont Webb, the girl’s father. “It’s kind of appalling.”
The two students, who claimed that they only posted the photo as a “joke,” were suspended from school for ten days. Additionally, one of the students was kicked off the high school football team.
“We took this to our police department,” Albuquerque Public Schools Superintendent Raquel Reedy told KOB 4. “They came and investigated and are really looking very carefully at whether we should file charges for hate crimes. This is something we’re looking at very carefully because it’s this serious.”
Watch a video report on the incident below.
Enjoy good journalism?
… then let us make a small request. The COVID crisis has slashed advertising rates, and we need your help. Like you, we here at Raw Story believe in the power of progressive journalism. Raw Story readers power David Cay Johnston’s DCReport, which we've expanded to keep watch in Washington. We’ve exposed billionaire tax evasion and uncovered White House efforts to poison our water. We’ve revealed financial scams that prey on veterans, and legal efforts to harm workers exploited by abusive bosses. And unlike other news outlets, we’ve decided to make our original content free. But we need your support to do what we do.
Raw Story is independent. Unhinged from corporate overlords, we fight to ensure no one is forgotten.
We need your support in this difficult time. Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Invest with us. Make a one-time contribution to Raw Story Investigates, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click to donate by check.
Value Raw Story?
… then let us make a small request. The COVID crisis has cut advertising rates in half, and we need your help. Like you, we believe in the power of progressive journalism — and we’re investing in investigative reporting as other publications give it the ax. Raw Story readers power David Cay Johnston’s DCReport, which we've expanded to keep watch in Washington. We’ve exposed billionaire tax evasion and uncovered White House efforts to poison our water. We’ve revealed financial scams that prey on veterans, and efforts to harm workers exploited by abusive bosses. We need your support to do what we do.
Raw Story is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Invest with us in the future. Make a one-time contribution to Raw Story Investigates, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you.
Report typos and corrections to:
[email protected].