Source: Susan Sheldon / EyeEm / Getty
It seems one teen couldn’t contain her racist thoughts at a middle school in Charlotte, North Carolina.
According to WBTV, a Black athlete at Ardrey Kell High School accused a white teammate of sending her a Snapchat message and a photo comparing her to a monkey. The Black girl’s mother and four administrators from the high school confirmed the accusations.
The white teammate allegedly sent a collage of two photos, one of the Black girl and the other of a monkey with the words, “U look interesting.” The Black girl’s mother sent a screenshot of the snap over to the Observer. She explained that her daughter received the message while on a bus towards a game in the fall. The mother said she planned on pressing charges for cyberstalking but she was told by the police that this wasn’t possible.
According to Ardrey Kell principle, David Switzer, this isn’t the first time the white student has sent racist messages. Three months earlier, the same student made a similar comment to another Black teammate, says Switzer and the mother of the Black student. Switzer said that the white student was disciplined for the latest incident, but refrained from saying what the punishment was.
Another racist incident occurred at the school back in March 2019 when a white basketball player used a racial slur in a Snapchat post before Ardrey Kell’s playoff game against the predominately Black West Charlotte High School. It included a message of violence and a reference to playing “in the hood.”
During a football game in 2017, more racism occurred when students from Ardrey Kell yelled racial threats at a Black middle schooler during a football game. “Black boy, you better watch your back! Black boy, you better keep your head on a swivel,” some of the teens chanted at a visiting Community House Middle School student. The high schoolers were said to be drunk or under the influence of drugs. With this incident, Switzer said he punished those responsible.
As for the West Charlotte incident, Switzer arranged for students from the school to meet with Ardrey Kell students during a day of spending time together. Switzer dubbed it “West Kell,” with the goal of students from both schools learning from each other. There’s no telling how this help raise racial consciousness and cultural sensitivity in the school. Meanwhile, the Ardrey Kell athlete who used the racial slur on Snapchat missed the game against West Charlotte, but he returned for offseason summer camps and regular season the following school year.
Ardrey Kell is 54 percent white, according to Switzer.
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