GOLDSTON, N.C. (NEXSTAR) — Chatham County Schools in North Carolina has updated its policies after reports that Black students were “sold” at a mock slave auction at the K-8th grade J.S. Waters School.
In a March 4 Facebook post, parent Ashley Palmer wrote:
Our son experienced a slave auction by his classmates and when he opened up we were made aware that this type of stuff seems to be the norm so much that he didn’t think it was worth sharing. His friend “went for $350” and another student was the Slavemaster because he “knew how to handle them.”
Ashley Palmer
Palmer, whose 14-year-old attends J.S. Waters, elaborated, saying video showed students “harmonizing the N word.” She says after the incident was reported, the students involved were only suspended for one day, the Charlotte Observer explains.
On Monday, Chatham County Schools Superintendent Anthony Jackson apologized, saying, “Actions such as these, they just do not reflect who were are as a school system. And I say, unapologetically, will not be tolerated in the school system.”
Several activist and student groups attended Monday’s school board meeting demanding changes to discrimination policies and apologies from the students involved in the “slave auction,” Yahoo! News reports.
Chatham Schools’ board unanimously approved changes to its policies to deal with racism and says its disciplinary and code of conduct rules are being reviewed.
Palmer also spoke at a Monday conference, saying: “… this isn’t the first time our family has had to deal with racist acts towards one of our children… It is just the first time we decided to go the distance to make sure it wasn’t just met with a cultural acceptance bulletin board. But hoped to get recognized for the extreme racism it is and followed with actual real consequences deserving of such a heinous act.”