Two white students of Northwest Guilford High School in Greensboro have been reprimanded after an explicit video of them spewing extreme racist language went viral on social media last week.
Two male students recorded an overtly racist and profane cellphone video mocking and berating Black folks. The video included lynching references and the repeated use of the word “nigger.”
During a segment of the recording, one of the minors said things like “lynch them all” and “put them back in the fields and teach them a lesson.”
The racist video was instantly condemned by Guilford County School officials, who said racist behavior is not tolerated. Tony Watlington, the chief of schools told WFMY, “It was very hateful speech.”
School officials were made aware of the graphic recording over the Thanksgiving holiday after it circulated all over social media. However, the students were immediately disciplined for violating the high school’s code of conduct.
“The students have been appropriately disciplined according to our code of conduct.” Watlington told the news station. “We also believe that kids who make very bad choices can change and can make improvements and we think it’s the role of adults to help kids make those improvements.”
On Monday, Nov. 26, Guilford County Schools and the National Conference for Community and Justice offered diversity training to students and the staff to make “sure all of our campus is a place people can feel comfortable and inclusive and that are harassment and discrimination free.”
The video of the racist white students was posted to Facebook and later shared on Twitter. It’s been viewed more than 10,000 times on Twitter.
Several parents and students commented on the video expressing that the students’ racist behavior is nothing new at Northwest Guilford High School.
One person tweeted, ” Sad that nothing has changed since I graduated from NW 20 yrs ago. Sadly this vileness stretches well past the Greensboro borders. Praying it will someday end.”
Watlington added, “Events like this tell us we need to redouble our efforts and do even more.”
The city is the site of the Greensboro Massacre of Nov. 3, 1979, when American Nazi Party and Ku Klux Klan gunmen descended on Black and communist anti-racist marchers and killed five people. Although several Klan members and Nazis were charged in the slayings, all were acquitted in two trials, one state and one federal.
Please be warned of vile and explicit language before watching the video:
https://twitter.com/adriahna9/status/1065494290372222976
