Nassau Schools: Video of students using racial slurs was meant as ‘joke amongst friends’

YULEE, Fla. – A video showing 2 achromatic teenagers pointing astatine a camera and utilizing a radical slur (one of them wearing a achromatic hood) was not meant to beryllium shared extracurricular of a tiny radical of friends, according to a connection from Nassau County School District Assistant Superintendent Mark Durham.

The connection clarified that the video was filmed earlier the schoolhouse twelvemonth began by 2 students who had not yet started classes astatine Yulee High School.

“The video was not meant to beryllium shared extracurricular of a tiny radical of friends and it was not targeted astatine immoderate peculiar student(s),” Durham said. “The 2 students successful the video accidental they meant it arsenic a gag amongst friends and did not mean for anyone extracurricular of their tiny radical to presumption it.”

Though the clip was filmed implicit the summer, it was precocious shared by different pupil with a radical of Black classmates via Snapchat. The radical past confronted 1 of the 2 students who appeared successful the video, sparking what the territory described arsenic a “physical altercation.”

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The schoolhouse disciplined some the students who were progressive successful the fight, and the pupil who forwarded the video clip, but not the students who appeared successful the video.

Durham said that the territory had nary authorization to punish students for behaviour extracurricular of school.

“While schools bash person jurisdiction to subject students for their on-line, disconnected field behaviour nether definite circumstances, this lawsuit did not conscionable the criteria,” Durham said. “While the schoolhouse and territory find this benignant of gag cruel and abhorrent and would subject the students if legally permissible, the circumstances of this lawsuit conscionable don’t let it. However, the pupil who sent the video to several, circumstantial students does conscionable the criteria indispensable to punish a pupil for their on-line behavior. The pupil was assigned subject accordant with the district’s codification of conduct.”

The emergence of the video caused strife connected the shot team, with 2 of its members being suspended aft the altercation. Several of their teammates planned to beryllium retired of past Friday’s homecoming game, but parents accidental the players were told by Principal Yvon Joinville that if immoderate subordinate refused to enactment successful the crippled that the remainder of their play would beryllium forfeited.

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The players staged a antithetic motion of solidarity connected the field during the game, hoisting the jerseys of their suspended teammates aloft during the team’s walkout.

On Wednesday night, a radical of much than 2 twelve parents of Nassau County students met to sermon the district’s handling of the situation, calling it unfair and inconsistent.

Many of them attended Thursday night’s schoolhouse committee meeting, including Christina Guerrier, a acrophobic parent.

“There is simply a mendacious thought that racism is constricted to sanction calling and carnal violence, but its truthful overmuch much than that,” Guerrier said. “The archetypal effect from schoolhouse administrators showed america that covert racism successful the spotlight.”

“There’s been successful our view, from the parents that I person spoken with, inconsistencies successful the response, the connection to our kids, to me, suboptimal,” said Matthew Ricks, a parent. “I don’t recognize wherefore we haven’t worked amended unneurotic to get done this and wherefore it takes a radical of parents yelling, virtually maine personally yelling and crying successful territory offices to get a response.”

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Also speaking astatine the gathering Thursday nighttime was Collin Sewel, who was the elder people president successful for the people of 2021.

“This assemblage and our state volition spot nary alteration if we support turning a unsighted oculus to the elephant successful the room,” Sewel said. “Reform, change, and equality volition not travel without your help.”

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