Billings Gazette
After Darius Ivory moved to Livingston, Montana, he befriended a racist classmate at his high school. Ivory is the only Black student at Park High School and is unbothered by the anti-Black actions he has encountered.
According to the Billings Gazette, when the 19-year-old moved from Houston and enrolled at Park High, a rumor began to spread about another student threatening him.
Fellow pupil Alexis Bowman said she heard a white classmate threatened to hang Ivory from his truck and drag him behind it. School administrators learned about the plans and Vice Principal Tim Gauthier contacted the 17-year-old white student. The student denied threatening Ivory but did admit to making negative statements about him.
“He comes out and said he doesn’t like black people and is racist,” Gauthier said to the newspaper. “In my 20 years as an educator, I’d never heard someone admit they were racist.”
The student told the principal that his racism is based on bad experiences he had with Black people in Missouri.
Yet Ivory is not intimidated. Even after the white student ignored admonishment from school officials and displayed a Confederate flag on his pickup truck two weeks later, the Black teen identified with the student.
He says he had a Confederate flag on his cell phone for a while and saw the emblem all around Houston growing up. He says the image stands more for southern pride than racism.
“I don’t see anything racist about it,” Ivory told the paper.
Outbursts later occurred at the school in reaction to the 17-year-old’s flag being burned and the emblem being banned as a result. Pupils protested by parking their cars off campus, and the student who had the image on his truck was suspended.
When the principal informed Ivory about the Confederate flag display and the threat, Gauthier said the Black teen seemed surprised.
“He asked to meet with the boy who had made the comments,” Gauthier said. “They ended up talking for over an hour. It was interesting. I mean the student didn’t pull any punches; he was clear about what he thought.”
Ivory said he learned about the white student’s background and understood where he was coming from. He has since continued to spend time with the classmate, who later dropped out of Park High following his suspension. But the classmate returned May 2 and Ivory was fine with that.
“We’ve hung out a couple times,” Ivory told the Gazette. “He is a cool kid. I like him.”
Communication is obviously so important.
It's called "hanged" not hung. Hung is when a guy has is big tool (know what I mean?). Being hanged means to have a rope around your neck.
He needs to be careful. Once a foe is always a foe
ivory is trying to play human, while if the white kid had actually carried out his plan, nothen would have been done about the attack, ivory, for what ever reason going to a school with only one black in it and it him, something is wrong with ivory, no latino's no chineses… ivory is lacking something its called sense, then he said he wanted to had out with the racist student.. really, i am his other kkk would have set that up… i am glad ivory is not my son….
People are taught to hate each other and parents are mostly to blame by the way they express thew character of another race of people …..Thats why i love my GOD HE IS NOT A RESPECTOR OF PERSONS ….
Why is it that some of us feel the need to try and befriend people who have made it clear that they want to be our enemy? What happened to self respect and common sense. I blame the parents for why that boy is so naive.
The Brother Darius Ivory needs some Black Freinds for support
Somebody is a damn lie! I grew up in Houston and Ive only seen that flag once in my life at a football game. That boy wants to fit in with those white kids so bad that he is willing to accept being killed. Smh.
Exactly. I know I dont feel the need to fit in or be accepted by any of them.