School officials at a Kansas high school are under fire from parents and students who claim several racial harassment incidents over the school year weren’t taken seriously by administrators.
Kirubel Solomon, a sophomore at Olathe South High School in Olathe, Kansas, went public with his claims against his principal and other school officials he says have not done enough to protect the Black students, and this week dozens of supporters demonstrated on his behalf.
Solomon said that on May 4 he was given a flat piece of copper with the N-word engraved in it by three white students in his metal and jewelry-making class, according to Kansas City Star. He also said those same three white students have targeted and harassed him for months in the suburban Kanas City, Kansas, school.
Solomon said that he reported the incident to the principal Dale Longenecker along with the previous months of racial slurs and harassment. He said Longenecker only apologized and said that the behavior had no place at Olathe. He was then prompted to fill out an incident form with the vice principal.
Related: ‘They Turned Their Backs’: New York High School Basketball Players Say They Were Spit on, Called the N-Word By Opposing Teams; District Plans to Sue on Their Behalf
The vice principal suspended two of the white students involved from school for 10 days, Solomon says. The other student reportedly also received a few days of out-of-school suspension and has returned to class. The incident sparked community members to rally on his behalf after his story went public.
“I feel like it was weak,” Solomon told Kansas City Star on Friday. “Because the school punishes harder for lesser offenses in my opinion. Like vaping. They take vaping more seriously than racism in my opinion.”
Solomon also mentioned that he hasn’t returned back to the shop class and has stayed in the office because he would have to remain in class with his harassers once they…
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