A group of white students from the town of Aledo, Texas, in USA, they made an assumed ‘slave auction‘in which they intended to’ sell ‘to their African-American peers.
The youngsters, who belong to the ninth grade of the Aledo Independent School District, used the social network Snapchat to run an ‘auction’ called ‘Nigger Auction’ a few weeks ago in which they bid from $ 1 to $ 100 for the students of color.
It should be remembered that the word ‘nigger’ or ‘nigga’ is considered an extremely racist and pejorative insult in the United States. In that country’s colonial era, in 1619, the term ‘negars’ – derived from the Spanish word black – was used to describe African slaves.
The screenshots of the conversation went viral on social networks. One of them says that one of the white students offered a dollar for his partner Chris, claiming that he would have paid more for him “if his hair hadn’t been so bad.”
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White students from @RTLnews organized a slave auction on Snapchat where they sold black classmates for between $ 1- $ 100.
The racism that floods into our politics, our public security and our national security is incubated in our schools. pic.twitter.com/jkdKXZfHz2
– S. Lee Merritt, Esq. (@MeritLaw) April 13, 2021
The educational institution issued a statement assuring that “there is no place for racism or hatred there” and that “the use of inappropriate, offensive and racially charged language and behavior is completely unacceptable and prohibited by District policy”.
They also indicated that, following an investigation, they determined that campus students engage in racist harassment and cyberbullying and will therefore be punished in accordance with their policies and the Student Code of Conduct.
In addition to contacting the parents of the perpetrators, the school indicated that the trial “involved the police” and that there were “disciplinary consequences” for those involved.
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“This incident has caused tremendous pain to the victims, their families and other colored students and their families, which is why we are deeply saddened,” the statement said.
Racism in America
The racism it remains a structural problem in the United States. First, white households are at least 10 times richer than African Americans in 2017, according to Federal Reserve statistics.
Second, 24% of the people killed by police are African-American, despite the fact that they make up only 13% of the country’s total population, according to the NGO Mapping Police Violence.
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Additionally, 84% of African American adults feel they are treated worse by the police than the white community and 40% claim to have been unfairly detained by officers because of their race, according to a 2019 study by John Gramlich.
Finally, the prison population in that country in 2018 was 33% Black and 30% White. This is despite the fact that whites represent 60% of the country’s adult population.
jabf / lsm