POWHATAN COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — The Powhatan County chapter of the NAACP, as well as teachers and parents, are calling for immediate action and change in the Powhatan County public school system after an alleged racist incident in a Powhatan High school Classroom.
On Saturday, Feb. 23, Powhatan High School sophomore Darius Owens captured a photo of a racial slur written on a student’s arm during school hours.
According to Owens’ mother, Mikki Owens, the student who had the racial slur written on her arm originally wrote a racial slur on another classmate. He, in return, wrote that on her. That’s when Darius took the picture and it ended up going viral on social media.
“Without this picture, we wouldn’t be here now, because it would have been their word against his,” said Owens. “So I’m proud that he took the picture. I’m proud that he was brave enough to take the picture and come forward with it.”
This incident prompted the Powhatan branch of the NAACP to host a meeting Thursday March 7, which saw over 100 community members gather to hear about the alleged ongoing acts of hate speech, racist threats and discrimination in schools in the county.
In the meeting, parents and teachers said they’re frustrated with how the school district keeps ignoring the problem.
“I definitely want accountability,” said Owens. “I want a no-tolerance policy, because I feel like all it takes is one example. If you expel one student for this behavior, this will stop.”
After several weeks and direct pressure from the NAACP and the community, Beth Teigen, the Powhatan County Public Schools superintendent, sent an email to parents Sunday night acknowledging the situation.
“Hateful speech and actions will not be tolerated. Period,” said Teigen in the email.
Kiera Berry, who graduated from Powhatan high school several years ago, said it’s disappointing to see nothing has changed since she was in school.
“It doesn’t surprise me not one bit, because, I mean, it’s been four years since I graduated and then it was the same way four years ago,” said Berry. “It frustrates me, knowing that I have kids coming up that I do want to go through [the] Powhatan school system. But at this point, I don’t think I do because of the lack of support administration gives to their students in racism situations.”
Teigen says change is in the works. In the email, she said Powhatan Schools has partnered with the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities to talk to staff and students developing a safer environment.
There will be a Powhatan County School Board meeting on Tuesday, March 12 at 6 p.m. to further discuss this ongoing issue.
