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Weeks after the NAACP cautioned Blacks about traveling to Missouri because of racism, a board member is asking administrators at a private school to expel several students who exchanged racially and sexually offensive Snapchat messages that were leaked to Twitter, the St. Louis Dispatch reports.

John Gaskin, a member of the St. Louis County NAACP and national NAACP board, met Tuesday morning with administrators at the Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School, an elite private school in Ladue, Missouri. Several freshman are accused of sending racially charged Snapchat messages that included the N-word and KKK references, the report says.

“The administration has made it very clear to us that there is a zero-tolerance policy in relation to the use of racially offensive language,” Gaskin told the Dispatch. “If that is the case, then these young folks need to be expelled.”

The NAACP spokesman also explained that “it’s a privilege, not a right, to go to MICDS,” correlating a lack of further punishment of the students involved in the incident to promoting an “air of entitlement,” CBS St. Louis reports.

Gaskin’s meeting comes after MICDS’ head of school, Lisa Lyle, denounced the Snapchats in a letter Monday, according to the St. Louis Dispatch. Scott Small, the MICDS’ high school principal, and student leaders also decried the messages.

Leaders at the prestigious private school said they are meeting with the families of students involved in the incident. Officials added that they plan to discipline the students after finishing their meetings.

The incident comes at a time when many tech companies and institutions are cracking down on those who use hate speech online. Stormfront.org, the world’s oldest white supremacist site, was shut down after several complaints about alleged violence and hate speech were linked to the site in August.

SOURCE: St. Louis Dispatch, CBS St. Louis

SEE ALSO:

Hate Speech And The Internet: A Vehicle For Violence?

Stormfront Shut Down: White Supremacist Website Ends After Hate Complaints

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