North Carolina Student Faces Discipline Over Viral N-Word Video
A South Columbus High School student in North Carolina is in a lot of trouble over a video of them saying the N-word, according to WCET 6 Wilmington. A spokesperson for Columbus County Schools has said the male student was disciplined, but they weren’t any specifics given.
2013 graduate of South Columbus High School named Mandalyn Russ-Bellamy, posted the full video on her Facebook page after current students sent her the footage from Snapchat. In the video, The Daily Beast notes the unidentified student walks around and says, “I’m with the n———-. Down with the n———.” He then raises his right fist and chants, “White power. White power!” Columbus County Schools Superintendent
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Dr. Deanne Meadows and School Board Chairman Dr. Ronnie Strickland denounced the incident.
From WCET 6 Wilmington:
“Columbus County Schools was made aware last week of a video containing racist language being used by a student off campus. We find the video highly inappropriate and offensive, and we understand the hurt and outrage it has caused among our students, parents, and communities. Disciplinary action has been taken.
The town of Columbus County has been dealing with an uptick of racist incidents as of late. A couple of months ago, Columbus County Sheriff Jody Greene was caught on tape making racist remarks about his fellow Black staff. Greene has since resigned from his post.
Columbus County NAACP President Curtis Hill hopes the incident with the student implores the school board to do better for the affected students.
“I know that the school system should really be doing a whole lot of different types of diversity, equity, and inclusion work within the confines of their learning environment,” said Hill. “It’s good that they have disciplined the child for the statements, but we want to take this opportunity as a learning opportunity because we think we understand that cross-cultural learning has to occur.”
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