Hundreds of students at an Oregon high school walked out of class in protest on Wednesday after their peer posted a video in which they used racial slurs.
Students at Tigard High School in Tigard, Oregon, coordinated the walkout in solidarity with their classmates of color.
The video surfaced on TikTok and Instagram over the Thanksgiving holiday and showed students using slurs targeting Black, Muslim and Asian people. Young demonstrators told local news station KGW that this behavior was unsurprising given that racism goes unchecked in the hallways of their high school.
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“You can’t even walk 15 feet without being called a racial slur,” student Jordyn Smith told KGW News.
The school district’s superintendent attended the protest but did not give details on whether any potential punishment for the students who filmed the racist video was being considered. Some of the protestors called for the students in question to be suspended.
“It’s not about shutting white people up,” student Wajeeh Konge told KGW. “It’s not about making us better than white people. It’s about making white people know we’re on the same level and deserve the same rights.”
Featured Image via KGW
