Last month, a student at Raymore-Peculiar High School gave a noose to a 14-year-old black student. A couple of students received three-day, in-house suspensions and Ray-Pec Superintendent Jeff Kyle blew off the incident, telling KCTV 5, "Yes, I guess you can call it a noose. I have visions of the long, large rope that they would hang them in the old west with. To me, that's a noose, but this was a smaller piece of string that you would have a hard time hurting anybody with."
Kyle's comment didn't go over well with the student's parents, Donald and Sarah Washington, and the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, whose legal branch fired off a letter (read the full text after the jump) to Kyle last week accusing the administrator of minimizing the episode and not understanding "the profound symbolic significance of the noose, especially when it is directed to an African-American student by white students."
Also in the letter, ACLU Chief Counsel and Legal Director Doug Bonney urged the school district to "address this outrageous incident of
racial harassment" by providing "onsite
training regarding racial harassment and its prevention to all of its
students and staff including administrators. Such training should
specifically address the noose incident direct at Devin Washington and
should include information about the historic and symbolic significance
of the noose for African Americans"
Kyle wasn't immediately available to take my call. I'll update if I hear from him.
Photo by Chris 73 via Wikimedia Commons.
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What I find amusing is that I am a pure blooded white american; nothing in me that I am aware of other than Irish, Italian, and German. I AM THAT WHITEST M0^#3r |=|_|(|<3r you would ever meet .... but I just made a noose for myself. All 13 knots; figutr I'll string it up on the tree here in a few mins and climb up on a ladder. How exactly does a noose pertain to a black person? Two dumb kids handed another kid a threatening object - makes no difference that they are white, black yellow, or a purple as a white guy who just hung himself.
Are you serious. Did you read the comment you posted before you hit submit. The ignorance you just spoke is the reason behind ACLU recommending Ray-Pec School District do some training. "Big Ole Black Thang", what the hell is that suppose to mean? It's a racial incident, period. That means it needs to be addressed.
Sounds like some pompous windbag over at the ACLU has a wee bit too much time on their hands. They always gotta come in and make some big ole "Black Thang" out of it. Now had it been a group of black kids that say beat up or shot a white kid do you think they would care? Of course they wouldnt.
Lou
http://www.anon-vpn.net.tc
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