Family members of a girl who says she has endured racist verbal assaults by other students because of her race said the suburban St. Louis school has done nothing to protect her from the racial slurs.
The Wentzville, Missouri, school district has a history of saying it is committed to diversity but has not moved to protect those vulnerable to bigoted attacks, the family says.
The victim’s mom, Laesha Moore, said her daughter had to “put in her headphones to try to drown” out the racial slurs while in school and even during her school bus ride to campus, which has prompted the mother of the Timberland High School senior to take action.
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“My job as a parent is to protect my kids,” Moore said, adding, “It’s nerve-wrenching, it is heartbreaking, it’s disturbing, and I’m tired of it,” according to KMOV.
The student’s aunt, Tamara King, said her niece was called the N-word several times a week.
“My niece gets on the bus, and she hears the words ‘I hate N-words,’” King said. “Her very first day riding the school bus, the first thing she hears is, ‘Oh my God. Here comes another colored person.’ Do you know how hard that was for her?”
The sisters, Moore and King, believe the district had an obligation to protect the student and has failed to do so. According to them, officials have not communicated with them about the repeated incidents of racism targeting the young lady, and to their knowledge, none of the perpetrators have been expelled from school, which is roughly 85 percent white.
“There was a young lady at homecoming who was called the N-word left and right at the high school,” King remarked, asserting that their relative’s trauma is not stand-alone.
As a result, on Monday, Oct. 2, they sent a letter to the board and other administrators to address their concerns.
The Wentzville School District released a statement insisting that they are “committed to…
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