Concerned parents of Black and biracial students are calling for a Michigan school district to take action to protect their children against racist verbal and physical attacks.
Over the past month, the urgency has heightened after one of the students not only threatened to kill all of the Black students but listed them by name.
On Friday, Nov. 10, according to the parents and students, one student elevated his use of racial slurs and said he was going to have his “KKK family members hang and kill” all of the Black students at Marysville Middle School before listing by name those he planned to target.
One mother, whose child was targeted by the bigoted schoolyard bully, revealed that the parent of the student making the threats allegedly arrived at the school armed with a gun. While the incident was alarming, in a school district where only 2.7 percent of the population is Black, it sadly wasn’t surprising to the woman. According to her, children of color, including her own, have been grappling with such challenges for years.
“It was very scary. I was in tears like do I send him to school? We talked about pulling him out and doing online schooling, going to a different school district. It’s not fair though. It’s where his friends are. He’s always been in Marysville,” said parent Holly Szymanski, who is white with a biracial child, according to WXYZ.
“I’m tired of my son coming home or getting in my car after school upset because of something that’s out of his control as simple as skin color, for the way he looks, his hair,” she said, adding that white students have called her son Devan Kidd “the N-word almost every day for two years.”
When asked how he feels about being bombarded with the racial epithet for so long, he says he is “partly scared, sad and mad.”
He also says he feels so powerless and unprotected that he stopped looking toward the school administration to protect him.
“We used to go down to the principal’s office, but since that’s never worked out, we’ve just stopped listening and stopped caring,” Devan said.
Another student, who did not want to list her name, said, “It started with small racial jokes and then remarks, and then it escalated to being called the N-word and now the threats.”
She even noted that when she defended herself in a fight against the student who made the threats, she was given a 10-day suspension from school. Another student was also suspended because of the altercation, but it is unclear if the student who used the slur was punished.
“I don’t feel safe. School’s a place where I should be learning, not fearing for my safety,” she said.
The NAACP has stepped in on the young student’s behalf, saying the student has been using race as a tool of intimidation for some time, but this is a byproduct of a larger issue.
“We are working with the administration to begin to take steps to not only bring about change regarding the individual complaints that have been brought to our attention but to begin to create change to the systemic issues that have been ingrained in this district for years,” Kevin Watkins, president of the local NAACP chapter said to Click on Detroit.
Shawn Wightman, the district’s superintendent, says he is aware of the reports and has launched an investigation into the claim that a parent showed up on the campus with a gun.
“We are looking into the claim that a particular student’s parent came to the school armed,” Wightman said in a statement. “This allegation is being investigated collaboratively with local law enforcement to ensure the safety and security of our school community.”
He added, “We are committed to taking all necessary measures to address any potential security concerns.”
