A Black Houston girl was accused of having a fake $2 bill by a school officer when she was trying to buy lunch last year.
The now 14-year-old Christa McAuliffe Middle School student, Danesiah Neal, was accused of buying chicken nuggets with a fake $2 bill. However, the officer overreacted and took the teen out of lunch.
“I went to the lunch line and they said my $2 bill was fake,” Neal told Ted Oberg Investigates. “They gave it to the police. Then they sent me to the police office. A police officer said I could be in big trouble.”
Danesiah did not get a chance to eat that day. The cop also went back to the convenience store where the bill originated. It turns out the bill was real.
“He brought me my $2 bill back,” the teen’s grandmother Sharon Kay Joseph said. “He didn’t apologize. He should have, and the school should have because they pulled Danesiah out of lunch and she didn’t eat lunch that day because they took her money.”
According to an investigative report last week from Houston’s ABC 13, this incident joins a troubling trend of white authority figures accusing Black school children of having counterfeit money.
The Fort Bend Independent School District has had eight counterfeiting charges investigated against high and middle-school students since the 2013-2014 school year.
No charges were filed against Neal. However, other students accused of forgery could face up to two to 10 years in prison.
This is the school to prison pipe line michelle alexander speaks of. These are children but they are being treated like criminals. Those communiites affected need to stand up to this unjust system or they need to pull their kids out of these schools.I am disgusted with the manner in which these adults are interacting with these children. Within the walls of these schools, they do not care for these children ; they depise them.
How do you figure that this happens all the time? I can't imagine that teenagers – black or white – have easy access to counterfeiting techniques. Have you seen currency lately? It's not like you can just print a dollar bill from a Mac. Also, there's a big difference between pandering to feelings and being absurdely accused like this. One Love to you Bonnie. I hope you find peace and love in your life.
Are you trying to be funny or are you really this demented?