Students at a high school in Georgia planned a protest against racism after a group of their peers came to school waving a Confederate flag. But, the school allegedly suspended the Black organizers of the protest before it began.
According to Newsweek, four students at Coosa High School in Rome, Georgia were filmed carrying the Confederate flag while hurling racial slurs during a “farm day” themed school spirit day on campus last week.
When school administrators failed to discipline the four students, other students who were upset by the flag planned a demonstration. However, school administrators shut it down by suspending the Black organizers of the protest.
“The administration is aware for tomorrow’s planned protest,” the administrator announced over the school’s intercom. “Police will be present here at school and if students insist on encouraging this kind of activity they will be disciplined for encouraging unrest.”
Student protestors told CBS 46 that only Black students were suspended even though their white counterparts were just as disruptive.
“All the African Americans they suspended them,” Lilyan Huckaby said. “They didn’t suspend me and I was yelling and loud. It’s because I’m white.”
“We’re not allowed to wear Black Lives Matter shirts or the LGBTQ flag, but kids can have Confederate flags and they have said nothing,” Huckaby added.
Students still protested outside the school with the support of their parents who brought them water, ice, and food throughout the day and helped monitor the demonstration, according to CBS 46.
Southern Poverty Law Center also supported the students and condemned the school’s action.
“No school should ever endorse the use of offensive, hateful symbolism and rhetoric that represents the oppression of any of its students, nor should they punish students for exercising their First Amendment right to protest,” SPLC Chief of Staff Lecia Brooks said in a statement. “The Confederate flag is unequivocally a symbol of hate and has no place in our schools. Floyd County Public Schools is sending the wrong message to students by allowing the traitorous flag to be displayed on school property without strongly condemning the action or offering support for the students and families who were negatively impacted.”
