A photo of a group of Idaho high schoolers spelling a racial slur on their shirts has sparked fury among community members – and prompted parents to call out pervasive racism at the school.
The photo was posted to Instagram by a student at Salmon High School. It showed a mixed-race girl lying on the ground with six teens standing over her and letters on their shirts spelling out a racial slur. All students in the picture had their middle finger raised to the camera.
The offensive post has since been deleted.
Dr. Troy Easterday, Superintendent for Salmon School District 291, posted a video to Facebook on September 26 where he assured parents that the matter was being handled.
‘I am well aware of the current situation happening within a social media post by our Salmon School District students,’ he said.
The now-deleted Instagram photo showed a mixed-race student lying on the ground while six others stood over her, spelling out a racist slur with letters on their shirts
Dr. Troy Easterday, Superintendent for Salmon School District 291, posted a video to the Salmon Savages Facebook page where he swore that the matter was being dealt with
However, parents alleged that racism was a pervasive issue within the district and feared the students would not be disciplined properly
‘At this time, our administrative team at the Salmon School District is investigating this post and will keep the community aware within the legal confounds of the law.’
However, his statement did little to satisfy parents who insisted students of color were being targeted and bullied at the school.
One parent told East Idaho News that she worried every day as the mother of mixed-race children. She called the post a ‘hate crime.’
‘I’m ashamed and embarrassed,’ she said. ‘My husband is one of two, maybe three African-Americans in this town.’
She said she was afraid to speak out, as: ‘I’m afraid if I said too much it would affect my job or my small business.’
Another mother said she was thinking about pulling her children from the school district, as she feared the offending students would not be disciplined properly.
‘The reason why there’s hate in this community is because no one does anything about it. Period,’ she said.
‘These kids are old enough to know right from wrong. Parents, do better. But you can’t blame the parents for this, because some of them are 18. They’re adults. It’s disturbing.’
Easterday said the incident was the first of its kind and the administration ‘did all the right legal steps to make sure disciplinary action was taken’
He posted a follow up video promising that the students had been punished
Easterday told KTVB that the administrative team was brought in as soon as the school became aware of the post, which was ‘not maliciously’ made.
He said the racist instance was the first that knew of during his tenure as superintendent.
‘Nothing has ever been brought to my desk that there’s ever been a situation like this, and that it hasn’t been taken seriously. Not while I’ve been here,’ Easterday said.
‘Our team did not hesitate to act. We did all the right legal steps to make sure disciplinary action was taken.’
He said the district also reached out to police and board members.
At 7.40am, another video was uploaded to the school’s Facebook page where the superintendent sat with his arms folded over his desk.
‘Salmon School District does not condone, or has ever condoned, what was expressed on social media today,’ he said.
And simply: ‘Disciplinary action has been taken.’
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24924653/236780_Google_AntiTrust_Trial_Custom_Art_CVirginia__0003_1.png "Google’s counteroffer to the government trying to break it up is unbundling Android apps")
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25672934/Metaphor_Key_Art_Horizontal.png "There’s a reason Metaphor: ReFantanzio’s battle music sounds as cool as it does")
