Racist threat at high school sparks outrage
SALISBURY, Md. — A video from Parkside High School showing a student using racial slurs and making violent threats against another student was posted to Facebook on Friday, garnering hundreds of reactions. Members of the community are now calling on school officials to take action.
Members of the community like Breanna Jenkins, a parent, tell us that this isn’t the first time an incident like this has happened at local high schools, and it won’t be the last if the schools don’t take action.
“It’s critical for our school system as a whole to acknowledge the patterns, implement stronger accountability measures… We all need to be trained on how to address racism directly,” Jenkins said.
Reverend Jamesina Greene and her non-profit, A Mother’s Cry, responded to the incident, saying the threats made by the student were not school discipline issues, but quote “terroristic threats and federal crimes.” In the video, a white student can be heard calling a black student a racial slur and threatening to harm her with a firearm.
“Our children, our black children, our brown children, should not have to go to school afraid that they may get shot at simply because somebody may not like them,” Reverend Greene said.
Wicomico County Public Schools assured parents that the incident was “addressed and continues to be handled in accordance with the Code of Conduct,” in a statement sent out on Monday. Community members are asking local government officials to step in.
“We need, within the next seven days, to have a public meeting where we can hear what they’re doing, and we can voice our opinions and make some suggestions,” Reverend Greene said.
Parents and guardians of students are expressing outrage online, citing concerns for their students’ safety and well-being.
“They’re experiencing constant racism far too often and it is dismissed or it’s totally ignored, and the incidents get minimized so that’s sending a message that discrimination is acceptable,” Jenkins said.
Wicomico County Public Schools assured parents that the school is taking immediate action in a letter sent to parents on Friday.
