A North Carolina girl was afraid to return to school after racist bullies told her that she looked like ‘she stayed in the oven too long.’ due to her skin color.
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Dalaya Hooper, 11, informed her mother, Dawnetta, of the racist remarks made by the bullies and expressed her desire to switch schools. The Daily Mail reports that Dawnetta used Facebook to raise awareness of racism and bullying at Riverwood Middle School by posting screenshots of the text messages.
“I was at work today when I received this text message from my 11 year old child. My heart sank! I immediately told my coworkers I had to go. Months ago, I brought this to the administrators attention and they said “we will handle it”. Well you didn’t! So I had to go by the school IN PERSON! One thing that won’t happen is my child growing up hating any part of her. She is a beautiful, smart, and vibrant little girl. I won’t allow anyone to dim her light.”
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Dawnetta added that her daughter told a teacher about the consistent bullying, but the school didn’t do anything to resolve the issue.
“I don’t care who I speak to, let this be their notice. You handle it, before I handle it. The first time it happened I told my child to tell the teacher. They did nothing. Second time, I called and spoke to an administrator. She told me she would have my child speak to a counselor. (What about the bully?). Now, I had to show up in person.”
The post was shared over 8,000 times, where commentators expressed their support for Dalaya. Dawnetta also said her daughter decided to return to school after assuming her classmates would blame her if the bullies got in trouble.
Johnston County Public Schools also released a statement about the incident, claiming they take similar cases seriously to WRAL.
‘[We are] aware of the social media post and actively looking into the situation. While the district is not authorized to share confidential student information, allegations like these are taken seriously and handled according to Board policy.’
The family met with school administrators on Friday and said they want action against bullying.