Parents outraged after racist bully targets daughter at Christian school ‘He said he would sell me into slavery’
The family of a Black student in Indianapolis is outraged after they said their child was bullied for her skin color and threatened by a student who only served a five-day suspension.
Alexander Wortham and Dominique Duncan are demanding accountability from the school for their handling of a bully at Horizon Christian School who they say has made their daughter Imani a target, according to WRTV.
The male student, they contend, “looked [her] in the eye” and said “if the school ever gets shot up, you’ll be the first one to get shot.” And he has teased her and her friends about their skin color.
“He said he would sell me into slavery if I didn’t do what he said and then he started making little jingles about slavery,” Imani’s friend LaShanti told WRTV.
Horizon Christian School said they took the threatening remarks seriously and “based on the severity of the threats” on Dec. 3, the student was suspended.
After the investigation, that included insight from Child Protective Services, the student was reportedly allowed to return to school after serving a five-day suspension.
The agency found “no direct threat,” according to a letter from the school sent to parents.
The violent student’s parents argued that their child suffered from Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism and does not understand people’s “feelings, thoughts, or perceptions…resulting in inadvertently appearing rude or inconsiderate,” the letter read.
“We should be able to go to school and not feel threatened, scared or having to be on edge the whole time,” Imani said.
—Jenifer Lewis calls Trump a “mentally ill” criminal—
Bullying led to suicide
A Birmingham family is in shock after their 9-year-old daughter took her own life. Now they want other parents to look for signs of bullying that would prevent them from experiencing the devastating loss they are now dealing with, AL.com reports.
Madison “Maddie” Whittsett was a vibrant fourth grader whose parents described as having a joyful heart and a love for others. Maddie’s family is now speaking out after the Alabama tween hanged herself in her bedroom closet, in november allegedly because of bullying. Maddie was rushed to Children’s of Alabama where she was pronounced dead Monday morning.
The tragic story of Maddie has her grieving family trying to find answers as well as giving hope to other parents in an effort to spare them the pain they’ve experienced.
“We don’t want this to happen to anyone else,’’ said Maddie’s stepfather, Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service Lt. Jimmie Williams.
Maddie’s friends said she was the victim of bullying.
Maddie’s parents said there were a few incidents at school where other children had called Maddie “Stupid” and “dumb” but they handled it and thought it had been resolved. Maddie was taking ADHD medication and receiving additional help for academic issues.
“We talked to one of her friends and Maddie had apparently had a bad day. The friend said Maddie was bullied and she looked sad while she was being bullied,’’ Lt. Williams said. “It must have really worn her out that day.”
Birmingham City Schools released this statement: “Our school community is deeply saddened by the recent passing of a student. Counselors and district-level support staff, trained to help students, parents and school personnel at difficult times such as this, have been on-site at the impacted school today to provide assistance to students and staff in needed of support in processing this tragedy. The death of any young person is a tragic loss that impacts the whole school community, and we send our deepest condolences to the family.”
