White teens at a high school in Modesto, California, threatened a Black student by sending a racially charged Snapchat video. According to KCRA, the Snapchat video was sent to the Black student in March.
In the video, two white students display a gun case and open it to show it contains a rifle. One of the White teens holds a noose around his neck as he laughs and threatens the Black student by calling out his first, middle, and last name. One of the White teens yells, “You must die!” before firing a handgun before the video cuts off.
The White teens and the Black students attend school at Central Catholic High School. When the Snapchat was sent by the White teens, the Black student showed the video to his mother. Disturbed by the video, the Black student’s mother, Tanya Porter, recorded the video with another device since Snapchat videos can’t be viewed after 24 hours.
Porter went to school officials at Central Catholic High School and sent them the footage. However, several days passed and the school had not disciplined the students. One of the White students even walked into the Black student’s class one day after school officials received the video. After school officials were slow to act, Porter decided to take the video to the Modesto Police Department.
Police officers searched three homes in connection with the video and arrested two 16-year-olds. After gathering evidence, the police were able to charge the teens with making terrorist threats, committing a hate crime, and criminal conspiracy. The students have also been suspended from school.
Racism continues to be an issue on some high school campuses.
In February, a biracial teenage student in Mt. Washington, Kentucky, endured abuse by other teens who used racial slurs and symbols of racism as tools of intimidation. The biracial teen was attacked by White students who held Confederate flag and waved it back and forth. While waving the flag, the students began calling the victim the N-word and other derogatory names.
Schools across the nation must do a better job of addressing racial violence.
