Authorities are investigating an explosive episode of racial bullying connected with a school in Southwick, Massachusetts, after white students allegedly hosted a “slave auction” on social media in which bids were placed on Black classmates.
The Hampden District Attorney’s Office issued a statement confirming the probe, led by the Massachusetts State Police Detective Unit, following a “racist conversation on Snapchat,” school officials said.
The racially charged incident happened on Feb. 9 and involved students from Southwick Regional School, located in a tranquil New England mill town known more for its rustic charm and picturesque landscapes rather than racial discord.
“The immediate description and nature of the alleged incident prompted Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni to direct the involvement of members of his office and its Massachusetts State Police Detective Unit,” the statement said. “Hate-based harassment and violence have no place in our community. We will investigate any such allegations and will prosecute any criminal violations vigorously.”
White students also allegedly hurled racial slurs toward a Black female student, according to the Springfield branch of the NAACP. A mother of a Black student at the school filed a civil complaint after she said her daughter was the primary target in both incidents.
Allyson Lopez claims her child has faced discrimination at Southwick Regional School for several months, culminating in the mock auction in the middle of Black History Month. The girl’s name was being withheld because she is a minor.
“It was called ‘Black Lives Ral.’… It was $2 to $4 a bid,” Lopez told WGGB/WSHM.
The most recent incident prompted local NAACP President Bishop Talbert Swan to send an urgent letter to Superintendent of Schools Jennifer C. Willard, expressing concerns about “reprehensible acts of hate that have no place in a learning environment or anywhere else in a civilized society.”
The Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional School District completed its investigation on Feb. 16 and turned over the findings to Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni to determine whether criminal charges should be filed.
School officials said they were limited in what they could reveal about who was involved in the incident due to strict laws protecting student privacy, but they assured the community that appropriate disciplinary actions were taken.
Swan, meanwhile, described racism as a hex passed down through the generations while criticizing school officials for allegedly slow-walking the response following at least one previous racial episode in the school district.
“In 2024, for that type of behavior to be going on among teenagers lets us know that we have a myriad of problems, one of them being the fact that racism is being passed down from generation to generation,” Swan said. “We want them to be concerned about the well-being and the safeguarding of the student instead of their reputation. This is time for course correction, not CYA behavior.”
The school district faced controversy in 2022 when a boy’s bathroom was vandalized with racist graffiti, with the principal calling the incident one of the most disrespectful and hateful acts he had ever witnessed.
