Valedictorian's graduation speech cut short for mentioning Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice: 'I never expected to be silenced'

A high school valedictorian’s speech went viral after she claimed that the school principal signaled for her microphone to be turned off while she was still speaking, as a way to stop her from mentioning black teens who were victims of police brutality.

Rooha Haghar was the valedictorian at Emmett J. Conrad High School in Dallas, Tex. According to a tweet Haghar posted on Monday, she made a conscious choice to mention Trayvon Martin and Tamir Rice in her graduation speech, even though her teacher specifically told her not to.

“I was told mentioning those named will incite anger towards white people, a group which according to him experience high levels of discrimination in America,” her lengthy tweet reads. “When I had my first meeting with the principal, he told me those lines do not fall within the DISD valedictorian speech guideline, which neither I nor any other student have access to.”

Haghar immigrated to the U.S. from Iran when she was 12 after facing religious persecution, reported NBC 5 KXAS. Her rough past motivated her fight for social justice — and including their names in her speech was her way of doing that onstage

In a video Haghar tweeted of her speech, the school principal is clearly seen signaling for the microphone to be muted before the sound cuts out.

In an interview with KXAS, Haghar said that she expected consequences, but did not imagine that she would be stopped mid-speech.

"I never expected to be silenced. The consequences I was expecting to face were them holding my diploma or having a conversation with my principal," Haghar told KXAS. "I never expected them to not allow me to finish, because at the end of the day, schools want to raise socially conscious students, students who are able to think for themselves. That's what I was doing."

Even though her speech was cut short, Haghar says she would not have done it differently.

"I don't have any regrets," Haghar told KXAS. "And if it took me not being able to finish my speech, then so be it."

In another tweet, Haghar posted a clip of the original copy of her speech that she had intended to read.

While Haghar told KXAS that she isn’t mad at her principal or the school, she pointed out that people who argued with her about the line in her speech are aware of what’s happening, and choose to remain silent, which makes them part of the problem.

“Innocent children being murdered is not a bipartisan issue,” she wrote. “It’s the product of a failed system, a system that has normalized death to a point that we forget names and move on in the span of weeks.”

Dallas Independent School District provided a statement to Yahoo Lifestyle on the incident.

“It is never our intent to censor anyone’s freedom of speech. Students have that right — Dallas ISD encourages it. It is Dallas ISD’s practice to review all valedictorian and salutatorian speeches in their entirety. The challenge the school faced in this instance was that the Valedictorian chose to share other remarks that were not prepared with administration’s knowledge. As a result, the principal made the decision to limit the student’s remarks,” said Robyn L. Harris, director of news and information for the school district. “Our charge is to ensure the rights of all students are respected and no one‘s rights are infringed upon. In hindsight, we realize this decision may not have been reflective of the core values we teach our students, as we work to educate leaders of tomorrow. For that, we apologize. We appreciate our parents and community members partnering with us to strengthen student voices.”

Yahoo Lifestyle did not immediately hear from Rooha Haghar after requesting comment.

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