‘Slave auction’ wasn’t the only racist act against Black students, Chatham leaders say
Some community leaders say a “slave auction” reported at a Chatham County school is just one example of a growing number of racist incidents targeting Black students across the district.
Ashley Palmer’s charge that some Black students were recently “sold” by classmates at J.S. Waters School in Goldston, about 50 miles southwest of Raleigh, has received national attention.
Now the Palmer family and its supporters plan to hold a news conference Monday and speak at that day’s Chatham County school board meeting about how they say Black students across the county are being harassed.
“We really want the public at-large to know the situation in Chatham County currently,” Carl Thompson, an executive committee member of the West Chatham NAACP, said in an interview Friday with The News & Observer.
“We also want the community at-large to know that the African American leadership in Chatham County has come together and we’re demanding that these kinds of incidents stop. The school board and administration must cause these situations to cease.”
Thompson was among the community leaders who spoke with Palmer in a Zoom call on Thursday that was first reported by The Chatham News + Record.
Student served as ‘Slavemaster’
Palmer posted last Friday on Facebook about her son telling of how his classmates held a “slave auction” at J.S. Waters School. The small, 200-student K-8 school is 68% white.
“His friend ‘went for $350’ and another student was the Slavemaster because he ‘knew how to handle them,’” Palmer posted. “We even have a video of students harmonizing the N word. Since when were children so blatantly racist?”
Palmer later posted that the students who participated in the slave auction received a one-day suspension.
The story was first reported Wednesday by The N&O and has since generated extensive news coverage.
Among the groups speaking out against the slave auction is the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which issued a press release that condemned the incident.
“Racist acts of bullying and intimidation cannot be tolerated in schools,” said CAIR National Communications Coordinator Ismail Allison. “We urge the school district to offer anti-racist curriculum to students to help ensure these kinds of alleged hate incidents do not continue to occur.”
Other racial incidents in Chatham schools
Thompson, of the NAACP, said the slave auction is just one of a number of racial incidents that have been reported in Chatham County schools over the past year, including:
▪ A report that a Black student at Chatham Central High School was surrounded by white students who chanted the N-word at her and dropped cards on the floor that had racist language.
▪ A photo on social media appearing to show a white Chatham County student lying on the ground while another white student simulates holding a gun over them. The photo is captioned “Black history month.”
“What surprises many people in this community is the boldness with which these students acted,” Thompson said. “They seem to have little care about the damage they do to the African-American students to which their acts are directed.”
Thompson. a former county commissioner, said these incidents lead him to believe there are many more unreported acts of racism and intimidation directed toward Black students in the district.
For Thompson and Bob Finch, the District 8 regional director for the North Carolina NAACP, it’s reminding them of what it was like fighting racism during the civil rights era.
“It does not serve our community at-large, our state, to have to readdress things that are reminiscent of the 1960s and 1970s in the 2020s,” Finch said in an interview Friday. “Parents are still fighting some of the social ills of the past today.
“That’s deeply concerning to us. We’re living in a time trying to be inclusive of all cultures and people that may not be filtering down in all parts of our educational system.”
Finch was among the people who participated in Thursday’s Zoom call with the family.
‘Demanding that action take place’
Chatham County school officials declined to comment Friday and instead referred back to the letter that Superintendent Anthony Jackson sent Tuesday to families about “recent unacceptable incidents.”
Jackson told families that “racist, homophobic or otherwise hateful behavior or speech has no place” in district schools and that students “who are acting outside of our expectations will be held accountable.”
“Moving forward, through our collective work, we must commit to dismantling racism and other negative influences that affect our school community,” Jackson said.
Jackson, who is Black, was hired by the school board in May.
Thompson said he believes Jackson is sincere but isn’t sure that the school board and the rest of the district are as committed to addressing the racial problems. Thompson said the district isn’t giving severe enough suspensions to discourage students from engaging in racist behavior.
“What we’re mainly concerned about is the psychological impact that has been done to children of color with situations like this,” Thompson said. “The community is at the point where we’re no longer asking. We’re demanding that action take place.”
This story was originally published March 11, 2022 at 2:53 PM.
