Concord, NC — A North Carolina high school has suspended two Black students after they posted a Snapchat video of their white schoolmate who used the N-word. The suspension was based on the accusation that they created a “disruptive environment” in the school by making the post.
Carmani Harris-Jackson, a 15-year-old sophomore said, “I was a victim in the situation and you all got mad at me for putting it out there. Someone posted on Snapchat how the walkout would be stupid, how without guns we wouldn’t have any of the stuff we have today, and that we were wasting our time walking out.”
Harris-Jackson, who identifies herself as a liberal, had a series of discussions about gun reform with other conservative white students on their Snapchat Stories on February 21.
Amidst the debates, a white female schoolmate recorded her friend, who is also white, who said: “They’re putting laws on who can purchase a gun. No, n****r…”
“Me and [the girl who said it] were friends before this happened. We had a class together. We would talk together. But as soon as I have a difference in views, you call me a very harmful and offensive racial slur? She said it in a joking manner, but there are boundaries of things you joke about and that’s not one of the things you joke about it,” Harris-Jackson said.
The video reposted by her and her best friend Trinity Smith already gained more than 10,000 views and 200 retweets since Smith posted it on her Twitter account.
It is not the first time Harris-Jackson and Smith encountered racism in their school. They’d see “KKK” scribbled on the bathroom walls and would often hear the n-word said casually by white students. They thought it was just the right time to speak up about it.
However, school administrators find it “disruptive.” They were asked to take the post down and they only agreed to know they would not receive any disciplinary action. But the next day, they received a two-day in-school suspension, as well as the two white students.
“I know for a fact if I hadn’t posted it and cause a ‘disruption,’ you would haven’t cared as much, you all would have swept it under the rug,” Harris-Jackson said.
“I can understand if I actually did something bad,” Smith said. “But the fact is, I didn’t threaten this girl, I didn’t say anything derogatory, I didn’t start a fight with her. The only thing I did was post a video and said I was disgusted with what she said. Because it is disgusting.”
In a statement, Ronnye Boone, the communications director for Cabarrus County Schools said that they “seek to provide a safe, inviting and motivating learning environment for all of our students. Racial prejudice and insensitivity have no place in our classrooms or on our campuses.”
“We investigate all claims and use the provisions outlined in Board Policy to determine disciplinary action.”