Video: Black Students in Lubbock Say They’re Being Called the N-Word By Classmates

*Update*

We received an email from Principal Kyle Hendrix:

"Lubbock-Cooper ISD administrators are aware of racially-motivated statements and actions by students at Laura Bush Middle School. The district is in the process of investigating these incidents and evaluating the protocols and procedures in place to maintain a safe and secure learning environment for all students.

 

There is no place for racism, hatred, or harassment at Laura Bush Middle School or in the Lubbock-Cooper community as a whole. This behavior is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

 

As a district, it is our responsibility to ensure that all students feel welcome, safe, and loved while at school. We are asking parents to help us. We would like for parents to open a dialogue with their children about the damaging nature of racist behavior. We would also like for parents to encourage their children to report this type of behavior to trusted adults when they see or hear it. Lubbock-Cooper ISD intends to pursue full disciplinary action against any student who is found to have used racist language or participated in racially-motivated harassment at school.

 

Student safety and well-being is the top priority of Lubbock-Cooper ISD. No child should feel unsupported or unsafe at school. Family is the basis of the Lubbock-Cooper culture. As a family, we must work together to resolve this issue."

A heartbreaking account of bullying and racism aimed at Black students at Laura Bush Middle School in Lubbock, Texas has been making its way across the internet for the past few days.

Not only do students at the school say they've been called the N-word by fellow classmates, but they also gave several other examples of extremely racist behavior in the classroom that hasn't been appropriately handled by teachers, principals or the superintendent.

According to the students, there's an app you can download on your phone that makes a whipping sound when you shake the phone. Not only have these children been subjected to other students constantly shaking their phones at them to make this whipping sound, but some of them have also even been called monkeys and have experienced stalking and threats of violence by their peers.

A video of one student fighting with another while the principal is mere feet away has been posted and shared on Instagram accounts that were likely made by bullies at the school.

Parents and students are fed up with the lack of action taken by the school to deal with this problem. They say that more often than not, bullies and aggressors are not punished sufficiently and that their black students are receiving harsher and longer suspensions for being involved in altercations when they're only trying to defend themselves.

This is not the Lubbock that we want for our children, and this behavior cannot continue. The bullies in question need to be made an example of and this situation must be rectified before it gets worse. Shutting down the school for an investigation sounds more than appropriate, and persons of authority at Laura Bush Middle School should absolutely be held accountable if they willfully turned a blind eye to these racist incidents. This is disgusting.

Watch the full video below. (Content warning: the video contains an unedited, accidental use of the full n-word, along with racist epithets.)

KFMX reached out to Laura Bush Middle School to comment on this situation but we were unable to get through on any of the phone lines listed on their website. We emailed them as well and are waiting for a response.