February 19, 2021
Art by Graesen Joyce. Following the incident she wanted to see what response the administration would take after having had negative experiences with past racial issues.
Jailyn Greene, senior, was disgusted by what had happened at KHS. Following the incident she wanted to see what response the administration would take after having had negative experiences with past racial issues.
“Our school doesn’t do anything about it. They’ve let stuff slide in the past, and now that this has happened I wanted to know [what they were going to do now,]” Greene said. “I have reported people before for stuff that has happened, and they didn’t do anything except just simply talk to them. I know that if a Black kid at the school had said the same things as some of the white kids say, we would get detention or in-school suspension. I just feel like the punishments are weighted differently from the white kids and the Black kids at the school. They need to be expelled, it’s still not right.”
For Greene, her reaction to the jokes was similar to the previous students interviewed. Greene said one of the perpetrators being Black did not change the severity and effects of the words written on the wall.
“For a Black boy to sit there and [commit a crime] like that while we’re trying to fight for the Black kids at the school, I thought that was very disgusting,” Greene said. “There were still jokes being made. I have actually seen Black kids, not only white kids, joke about [the crime]. I’ve seen one of our athletes joke about it, and I just don’t see the joke. We’re trying to fight for a cause that’s happening, and not even just now, it has been happening over the years.”
As far as making progress, Greene said KHS needs to change its treatment of black students. Greene also said that within the student body there needs to be more conversation similar to what Winter-Banks said.
“I feel like [Kirkwood] just needs to start taking things seriously with Black kids and considering our feelings,” Greene said. “We don’t feel comfortable at this school at all. We know it’s a privilege to go here. I just feel like Kirkwood needs to start giving out punishments to show people that this won’t be tolerated. It’s happening in your community, and [people are] trying to push the problem away. I would love for people to ask questions.”
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