Black students suspended for confronting white classmates over racist Snapchat video
October 23, 2021
Several Black students at a Florida high school reportedly were suspended for five days after they confronted white classmates involved in a racist video featuring a mock Ku Klux Klan hood and the N-word.
However, the white students who appeared in the video have not been suspended, according to Jacksonville's Channel 4, sparking outrage among parents and others.
Black students at Yulee High School in Nassau County reportedly received the video from a classmate on Snapchat. The video shows two white teens, one of them wearing a mock KKK hood.
"Hold on, you see that?" one of the teens says in the video, pointing at the camera. "It's a n*gger."
Channel 4 reported Friday: "A group of Black students who received this video from one of their classmates confronted the two students who appeared in it. Because of that confrontation, parents say those Black students were suspended for five days, but the students who appeared in the video were not suspended. Parents say this is incredibly unfair and students now are planning a protest, starting with tonight's homecoming football game."
Two of the suspended Black students are members of the football team, and teammates reportedly considered taking a knee in protest during Friday night's game, or sitting it out entirely. However, the players were told by school administrators that if they did so, they would forfeit the remainder of the season, Channel 4 reported Saturday. Instead, the football players held two white jerseys in the air as they took the field, representing their suspended teammates.
Parents said the Black students "were defending themselves after being bullied and targeted because of their race," according to Channel 4.
"It's disgusting. The fact that this kid that made this vile, nasty, distasteful video is still walking around campus while you have kids who confronted him to defend themselves are sitting at home is two-thirds of the problem," one parent told the station.
Another parent, Melissa Ricks, said she was "enraged" when her son was among those who received the video.
"It is 2021 and until people start screaming, nothing is going to change," Ricks said. "I have never felt rage like this in my life. To know that this video was sent directly to my kid and half of my babies that are on this football team. Do you know what that feels like?"
Ricks added that the issue is bigger than suspensions and football games, and that the school and community need to take a stand against racism, Channel 4 reported.
Mark Durham, the school district's assistant superintendent, issued a statement saying: "The district was made aware of a video that was recorded this summer but just recently sent on Snap Chat to several Yulee High School students. The video contained racial slurs and images. It resulted in a physical altercation involving several students. Disciplinary actions consistent with the district's code of conduct have been given to students involved in the altercation and in sending the Snap Chat video."
According to Durham, the altercation became physical, but did not result in any injuries.
He added in a second statement: "Nassau County School District and Yulee High School want to make it clear that acts of discrimination based on race will not be tolerated on our campuses or toward our students. Individuals committing such acts will be subject to disciplinary consequences. We recognize that many students were negatively affected by the content of this video and the school is prepared to support their needs."
According to Channel 4, the district confirmed that the student who sent the Snapchat video was not one of the students who appeared in it.
"The Nassau County School district confirmed with News4Jax that the video sparked a fight when a few students, including some on the football team, confronted the teen who sent them the video," the station reported. "The district says that students involved in the altercation and their classmate who sent out the clip were suspended."
Watch the two reports as well as an edited version of the Snapchat video below.
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