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| An African-American student’s participation in a comedy skit in Chandler High School, Oklahoma, was turned into a racist meme, which caused the school officials to issue an apology to the teen’s family. In this photo, students pray in the aftermath of two apparent racially motivated student brawls at Thomas Jefferson High School in Los Angeles, California, April 21, 2005. Photo: Getty Images/ David McNew |
By Pritha Paul, UPI
An African-American student’s participation in a comedy skit in Chandler High School, Oklahoma, was turned into a racist meme, which caused the school officials to issue an apology to the teen’s family.
The teen was dressed in a prisoner’s costume when another student clicked his picture, added the words “N----r for auction in Chandler Oklahoma. Starting bid $50,” an image of a confederate flag and released it on Snapchat, the New York Post reported.
When the student’s elder sister, Ashley Dawn Warner came across the meme, she said she was outraged. “My blood is absolutely boiling,” wrote Warner in a lengthy Facebook post on Wednesday. “This is my little brother pictured in this screenshot.”
Warner said the scene played by her brother was taken out of context and used in hateful speech. He was taking part in the “Positive Peers” assembly, which was meant to promote school unity.
“My brother is dressed up for Positive Peers as they are putting on a production for the school called Teen Forum,” Warner explained. “He was being taken to jail in this scene and this is what another student posted. This is just ridiculous! I know bullying happens, I was bullied all throughout school, but it seems to happen a lot more in Chandler Schools then it should…I’m not sure if this is a result of piss poor parenting or if the school needs to do something regarding bullying or both; but this kinda crap isn’t acceptable.”
She added that she was disgusted by the thought that even in 2018 people let children address other children by such derogatory terms. The school district issued an apology to the teen’s family for the incident
The following statement was issued by the school district:The individual responsible for the meme was reported by his peers and later suspended for his actions. Details about the district’s disciplinary action toward the student responsible were not released.
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