A Florida middle school is currently under fire after six white students posed with the n-word in front of their school. In response to the backlash, school officials are claiming the photo stemmed from “an innocent art project.”
6 White Students In Florida Pose With N-Word
The incident went down recently at Hidden Oaks Middle School, which is apart of Florida’s Martin County School District.
This past week, a highly disturbing and offensive photo began circulating showing six white students holding up 3D letters, spelling out the racial slur. Each of the six letters also had racial stereotypes painted on them.
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Martin County NAACP President Is Shocked, But Not Surprised
The photo went viral and caught the attention of Martin County NAACP president Jimmy Smith. He said, “It might seem like it’s funny or might just be kids. No, we have all made mistakes. But when you get to that degree, to come up with an idea like that, there’s something else going on.”
While Smith, like many others, found the photo to be shocking, he also added that he was not surprised at all by the incident. He further explained, “What I mean by, ‘I’m not surprised.’ I’ve been here since 1962. Palm City was a place that we weren’t allowed to cross the bridge to go to.”
Smith continued to recall Palm City’s challenging past battling race, and also reflected on the times when schools were segregating in Southern Florida. He said, “In my time, 1976, we had the biggest fight with the Ku Klux Klan, and I was in the school.”
Middle School Officials Say Photo Stemmed From ‘An Innocent Art Project’
On Monday (May 16), in response to the backlash in South Florida and across the internet, Martin County School District officials say they are appalled and saddened by the actions of their students.
School District Spokeswoman Jennifer DeShazo stated, “An innocent art project was unfortunately taken to a different level by some students who made an extremely poor decision.”
Apparently, the exercise was to help the students build 3D projects, creating letters to represent an initial in each of their names; but the children took things a step further and decided to use the letters to spell out and pose with the racist word.
DeShazo added, “We’re still trying to gather specifics on how some of the letters that students created came about, considering it wouldn’t necessarily be part of their name.”
School officials already launched an investigation into the matter; and at the time of announcing, Martin County Superintendent Dr. John D. Millay said, “We have already started investigations, and we have already started administering discipline according to the code of conduct because we do take it seriously. When you see an investigation like they do all around the country. There’s always a process”
The investigation has since finished and Martin County Sheriff Williams Snyder said on Wednesday (May 18), that there will be no charges filed since no crime was committed.
Meanwhile, Martin County School District leaders say the six students involved will definitely face disciplinary action, and they working as quickly as possible to determine exactly what their punishment will look like. They add that the district has zero tolerance for hurtful or discriminatory messages of any type.
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