Photo Courtesy Of Chatham County Schools
A North Carolina public school allegedly held a mock “slave auction” where white students pretended to sell their Black classmates.
According to reports, the auction was allegedly held in the baseball field of J.S. Waters School in Goldston.
On Mar. 4, one of the students’ mothers’, Ashley Palmer, took to Facebook to describe what happened.
“Our son experienced a ‘slave auction’ by his classmates, and when he opened up, we were made aware that this type of stuff seems to be the norm so much that he didn’t think it was worth sharing,” she said. “His friend “went for $350,” and another student was the Slavemaster because he “knew how to handle them.” We even have a video of students harmonizing the N-word.”
Her 14-year-old son has attended the school and played for its baseball team.
Palmer continued saying that another student in the roleplay was the “slavemaster” and, as such, reached for some money.
“Since when were children so blatantly racist? Why is this culture acceptable,” she said.
A few days later, on Mar. 8, the Superintendent of Chatham County, Dr. Anthony Jackson, sent a letter to families of the J.S. Waters’ attendees to apologize about the alleged incident.
“We have become aware of recent incidents involving students using racially insensitive language and offensive imagery,” they wrote. “These incidents were unacceptable and [don’t] reflect who we are as a school system or a community. Incidents such as these cannot and will not be tolerated by Chatham County Schools.”
He continued, saying the district was responsible for interrupting activities that promote discrimination against one’s race.
“As a school system and community, we cannot be silent in the face of incidents and behavior that create an unsafe or uncomfortable environment for students in our schools. The core values espoused by this school system compel us to recognize and interrupt any issues that demean or disrespect anyone on the basis of their race, gender, sexual orientation or religion.”
To drive their point home, they wrote, “Racist, homophobic or otherwise hateful behavior or speech has no place in the Chatham County School System.”
WYFF reported that, following the letter, the school board unanimously approved changes to its policies for handling racist acts. They would also reportedly review the student code of conduct and discipline policies involving those acts.