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An Arkansas school district has launched an investigation after white students were caught on tape chanting "Rosa Parks" and "BLM" at a Black middle schooler who was boarding a school at the end of February.
Video obtained by 5News shows students of the Lavaca Public School District cornering 13-year-old Alyssa Shaw while laughing and chanting the racist remarks at her. Shaw's mother, Becky Burris, told the outlet this isn't even the first racist bullying incident her daughter faced this school year.
"This was malicious. It's horrible. I mean I just bawled when I saw that video," Burris told 5News. "I just could not believe it. It is so hurtful. I don't understand how people could think that is anywhere near close to being ok."
Back in October, Alyssa was subjected to yet another incident of bullying, in which a male student followed her around calling her the N-word and stating that he "hates Black people."
That prompted her mom to request to take action, which Burris said the school failed and "allowed this to happen again." "You're supposed to protect my child and now this is now twice," she said.
The District provided a statement to the outlet, stating that it "became aware" of the situation that took place on February 22, 2022 and that "officials opened an investigation" which found that bullying did in fact occur.
Specifics about disciplinary actions weren't released because the students involved are minors, but the Lavaca Police Department is also doing its own investigation, including interviewing students who participated in the bullying. Depending on the prosecuting attorney, those students could face harassment charges.
"Set an example," Burris said. "This is not tolerable. This is not something that we are going to tolerate." Burris commended her daughter for how she handled the situation and says the child will be transferred to a different school district at the end of the third quarter.
Burris hopes that the principal takes action in preventing any similar from happening again.
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