Racist Tweet

Even the Huffington Post got wind of this.

Here in Mississippi, racism is still alive and thriving.  Not just with white people, but people of all races.  There are a lot of black people who think that blacks can't be racist, but I think that is inaccurate and a story for another day.

A local high school student recently tweeted, "I (bleeping) hate (African-American slur).  And I don't care how bad that sounds.  I really do."

Because the tweet was sent during school hours, it gives the school the right to suspend the young lady and / or send her to an alternative school.  The school, Brandon High, is 30% black and there were plenty of students there angered by the tweet.

I watched the local news that night and the next day and saw at least six interviews with two students and four adults who have ties to the school.  All six of them said that the girl should at least be suspended.  They were hard on her and appeared to want to make an example of her.

Now, for those who are new to my blog, I'm black.  However, here's the angle of my blog post:

Why didn't someone ask the girl why she hated (African-American slur)?

It's been days since this has occurred and everyone who has been interviewed is on their "high horse" about how wrong the girl is and what should be done to her.  I get that.  She should be dealt with in some fashion, but why isn't anyone showing concern for the fact that she hates them and doesn't care how bad it sounds?

How do we know that she wasn't beaten by black kids everyday on her way to school?  How do we know that some black kid didn't steal her sweetheart for the second or third time?  How do we know that maybe one of her teachers, who is black, has mistreated her?

Again, is she wrong for the tweet?  Yes!  But, she's a child!  Something drove her to say what she said and that's more important than the actual tweet!  If it's something that a white person doesn't understand about a culture, then education is the key to overcoming that ignorance.  The same applies to all races.  There is way too much information at our fingertips for us to not get along with one another.  Have a conversation and stop putting a bucket under the leak instead of just fixing the sink!

We need to stop suppressing racism and start eliminating it!