While many students are currently being taught outside of the classroom, sadly racism can still rear its ugly head. That is what happened to a 14-year-old Miami Senior High School student who was called the n-word multiple times via her Zoom class.
“All I wanted was to be able to go to school and have a regular high school experience,” said Jasmine, the freshman student who was the victim of the attack. “I shouldn’t have to deal with getting harassed by my classmates.”
The incident took place on September 24th. Jasmine’s attorney, Ariel Lett, says that another girl typed out the n-word 28 times and also said it verbally via her microphone which was muted nearly seven minutes into the rant by the teacher. The class was dismissed shortly thereafter. Neither the teacher nor the school principal took immediate disciplinary action against the racist student. However, the principal did reach out privately to the family to offer an apology.
“The use of this word in and of itself is hurtful, but what’s also hurtful is when the adults in charge do nothing about it,” Lett said
Jasmine has since transferred schools. However, her family is still asking the Miami-Dade County Public Schools to acknowledge the incident and put guidelines in place to address racism even if it does take place via virtually taught classes.
“Enough is enough,” said Nicole Crooks, Jasmine’s mother. “To be told by the principal that he would need to find out the context in which the n-word was used in order to start looking into it signifies an even bigger and more widespread issue.”
The school district has finally issued a statement to Local News 10 in response to the racist rant.
“Miami-Dade County Public Schools is obviously disheartened to learn about this incident as we strongly believe that every child should feel a sense of belonging and acceptance. As such, the District continues to foster teaching and learning environments that embrace and celebrate the diversity of our students, workforce, and community. Although we cannot provide further comment due to potential litigation, our commitment to promoting racial equality and social justice has not wavered.” said chief communications officer for the school district, Daisy Gonzalez-Diego in the statement.
“It was horrible. It made me feel terrible, and I was very angry,” Jasmine said.
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