Texas students disciplined after holding online slave auction of Black classmates

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Students at a North Texas school were disciplined after setting up a slave auction on social media in which they pretended to sell their Black classmates. 

The Aledo Independent School District investigated complaints of cyberbullying and harassment at Daniel Ninth Grade Campus in Parker County, Texas. According to a report by The Dallas Star-Telegram, the district also engaged local law enforcement. 

The news report notes that students set up a Snapchat group with several names including “Slave Trade” and another that included a racial slur. Students then commented how much they would spend on their peers, ranging from $1 to $100. 

The students’ discipline was not specified.

Activist Tony Crawford with Parker County Progressive called the situation “another in a long line of incidents that are swept under the rug.” 

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“Can you imagine what it’s like for somebody to put a price on your head?” he said, referring to the young targets of the incident. “I cannot imagine the embarrassment and hurt that people you might be friends with are having that conversation.”

“There is no room for racism or hatred in the Aledo ISD, period,” Aledo Independent School District Superintendent Dr. Susan Bohn said in a statement. “Using inappropriate, offensive, and racially charged language and conduct is completely unacceptable and is prohibited by district policy.”

“This incident has caused tremendous pain for the victims, their families, and other students of color and their families,” Bohn wrote, “and for that, we are deeply saddened.”

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The president of Parker County NAACP, Eddie Burnett, who heard about the incident Sunday, told The Star-Telegram he plans to raise a discussion of it at the next school board meeting, set for Monday. 

In the official statement, the superintendent encouraged parents and community members to “have important conversations with their children at home about racism and other forms of harassment.” 

Parker County, located about 35 miles west of Fort Worth, is included in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metropolitan area, a longtime Republican stronghold.

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