Fury over white student’s ‘black lives don’t matter’ video rant

The student says that black lives do not matter because 'they are an inferior race, OK?'

(EPA)

A viral video recording of a suburban white Maryland teenager disparaging the Black Lives Matter movement with inflammatory racist pronouncements has prompted a swift response from local school officials.

Howard County superintendent Renee Foose described the video as “disturbing,” and wrote a letter to parents on 28 January noting that student’s comments offered “a teachable moment.”

The 30-second video shows a student at Mt. Hebron High School, in Ellicott City, saying “who the [expletive] cares about some black man who dies?” The student goes on to say that black lives do not matter because “they are an inferior race, OK?”

The video ends with the student grabbing a five-dollar bill and holding it up to the camera to display the face of president Abraham Lincoln.

“This guy is a traitor to the white race,” the student said.

The video quickly gained momentum online and spread widely in recent days through social media platforms such as Tumblr and Twitter.

After the video caught attention of school officials, the student, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, posted a message on social media and apologised.

“I am learning from this mistake and hope to gain forgiveness from those who I hurt with my words,” he said.

Foose wrote in her letter that the video has been “offending many people of all races, and reflecting poorly on students directly involved and those who chose to stand silent. This behavior is unnacceptable and will not be tolerated.”

The video brought to light racial tensions that had crept in the shadows at Mt. Hebron. Students interviewed by The Post said that the school, which is majority white, has struggled with racist behavior by teens in the past.

An area of the school where black students often congregate in between classes is referred to as “the jungle.” The students said it was not out of the ordinary to hear white students say racial epithets such as the the “N word” in the hallways.

Foose said the school is investigating the incident, which was made during a party at a student’s home in recent days.


 In a “call to action,” Foose encouraged students to delete the video and refrain from sharing it.
 (Adam Bettcher/Getty)

Howard County schools spokesman John White said that Foose viewed the video on the afternoon of 28 January.

“It’s not the type of behavior she would expect from our students,” he said.

In a “call to action,” Foose encouraged students to delete the video and refrain from sharing it.

“This is more than an example of irresponsible use of social media,” Foose wrote. “It is hateful. No Howard County public school student should engage in this type of conduct, nor do they need to be exposed to it.”

But Foose’s message appeared to come too late. The video, she said in her letter, had already been shared hundreds of times online.

It is also not the first time that the school has been forced to address overt forms of racism. In 2009, vandals broke into the school and scrawled “KKK” and drew Nazi swastikas on the walls.

In a letter to Mt. Hebron parents, principal Andrew Cockley wrote that he planned to meet with the teenagers involved in the video.

“This is an incident when students were engaging in hateful conversations,” Cockley wrote.

Donna St. George contributed to this report.

Copyright: Washington Post