Members of the original Black Panther Party showed up to an intense Virginia school board meeting to take part in the discussion over a picture of a white student with a racist threat written on her arm.
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The Powhatan County School Board meeting Monday evening addressed the floating image of a white female Powhatan High student with “I kill n—ers” written on her arm. The image had been circulating for weeks, but according to ABC 8 News, the concerns of both parents and students kept getting pushed off to a later date.
Some board members began what became a three-hour session by condemning the racist comments and incidents cited by the students. Others called out the need for better discipline and policies regarding racist incidents like this.
“Make no mistake, these were death threats and they should have been treated as such,” said one board member. It’s unclear what other disciplinary action the student faced besides in-school suspension. Though, if you let the kids tell it, nothing ever happens in these situations.
In the meeting, one student recalled being pushed and called a racial slur. Yet he received in-school suspension after pushing the student back in self-defense, he said. Another student said it was the norm being called a “monkey” and “slave” everyday because his complaints went unanswered by administrators. Even a teacher spoke up as a witness to some of these incidents.
“Today I had to send out no less than three kids because they thought the N-word is funny and I’m over it,” they said in the meeting.
Screenshot: 12 On Your Side
At this point, the board has been cornered on every side. A report from 12 On Your Side says the local Powhatan NAACP chapter met with the school superintendent ahead of the meeting. Then, the members of the original Black Panther Party to pulled up to address the board in person Monday night, calling the racist threat written on the student’s arm a terroristic threat.
“If the Powhatan School Board continues to ignore these racially charged situations, we must move forward in protecting the students ourselves, by mentally arming them and their parents with new strategies to combat a racist environment,” said National General Mike Pain to the board.
“When will you realize you have a gigantic racial problem in your school and community?… Those that don’t see it don’t want to see it.”
