Alabama teen in racist video apologizes: 'I will do everything in my power to be better'
An Alabama teen who made a racist video with her friends against black and Jewish people explained her conduct as “a terrible attempt to be funny.”
Scores of people, counting the mayor of Hoover and Hoover City Schools district said the video, which has racked up over 1 million views, was detestable. One of the boys said on camera, “Without the Holocaust, what would the world be like?” A girl answered, “We would have white people still!” and a boy said, “Jews would rule the world.”
A boy said, “F*** [N-word], f*** Jews” and a girl replied, “Jews are fine because they’re white…we just need [N-word] gone…We run [N-word] They do football and rap music for us. And we pay them for that.”
The girl also called biracial children “Mixed Oreos,” asking, “What are you going to do with them?”
“You stick them in concentration camps,” stated her friend.
“You have to wait until they die off,” she said. “How about we kick out the Democrats and go on strike?”
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On Monday evening, one of the teens, whose name is Mackenzie, wrote an apology on the Facebook page of her dad’s car dealership, Hoover Toyota. “I want to start off by saying that what I did is not okay,” she wrote. “The horrible, horrible things that I said were a terrible attempt to be funny. I know now that trying to fit into a group by behaving poorly is an awful thing to do.”
“There is nothing that I can say to make what I did better, and there is no apology that I could possibly construct that would deserve forgiveness. The things that I said do not reflect the values and morals that my family has instilled in me, nor do they even reflect my own. I spoke without thinking about what the words truly meant, and the words I chose are extremely hurtful.”
She said, “Anyone who actually knows me knows that I am better than this. My words have consequences, and I realize that now more than ever. I’m sorry to anyone that had to listen to the video, and I will do everything in my power to be better each and every day.”
Mackenzie was named by her father, Gordon Stewart, on the Hoover Toyota Facebook page in his own post, “Earlier today a video was circulated on social media that depicted high school kids hanging out and saying some really horrible things,” he wrote. “One of the kids you can hear talking is my daughter. We believe, that in the moment, she acted completely outside her character and certainly outside the morals and principals that we worked hard to instill in her throughout her lifetime.”
Stewart wrote, “Our family, Mackenzie included, blatantly reject all forms of racism or bigotry and the sentiments from this video do not accurately reflect her or our true feelings. This experience has proven to be a crucial lesson in her maturity and she directly expresses her heartfelt apologies for her insensitivity. We are all truly sorry for Mackenzie’s actions.”
Kathy Murphy, the superintendent of Hoover City Schools told AL.com, “We are exceptionally sad and disappointed that this would either be the attitude of some of our young people or whatever would prompt them to have such conversations.” The teens allegedly attend Hoover High School and Spain Park High School.
The district wrote on its website, “We have been made aware of a recently posted video that features Hoover School System students who appear to be engaged in disturbing conduct. The activity apparently took place this past weekend at a private residence. Although it was not part of any school function, the conduct in question is in direct conflict with our school system’s values and its mission. Our school administrators are carefully investigating the situation in order to assess our options under the Code of Student Conduct. In the meantime, the Hoover school community may be assured that the Board, together with its administrative and instructional staff, remains steadfastly committed to maintaining and strengthening a school culture that encourages and embraces diversity, inclusiveness, and tolerance.”
Stewart did not return an interview request from Yahoo Lifestyle.
Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:
School investigating racist video by high school students: ‘We just need N****** gone’
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