PLYMOUTH, Mich. (WXYZ) — Parents at Plymouth-Canton schools are outraged over a video that was posted online showing one student threatening violence against Black people.
Canton police say there is an open investigation and once it’s complete, it will then be sent to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office.
“I was disgusted, I was angry,” said one parent, who asked not to be named.
It’s a reaction shared by many parents Tuesday after a video started spreading online showing a white high school student filming himself, threatening to lynch, "curb-stomp" and kill Black students. In the video, he repeatedly used the N-word.
“It created just a pain in my heart that this is what my child, as a teenager, is experiencing at a place where she’s supposed to be learning and growing,” the parent said.
"It's horrible," another unnamed parent added. "It makes me feel like my daughter is not safe going to school.”
Both these parents who spoke to 7 Action asked us not to use their names or show their faces fearing pushback against their children in school, where they say racism is nothing new.
"She’s not happy about it at all," one mother said about her daughter. "She says this happens all the time at the park.”
In a statement the district said, “While this video has recently surfaced among our student body, it was thoroughly investigated when it was brought to our attention and addressed with the students involved. We do not condone or tolerate acts of this nature.”
The district also added that they can’t disclose specific discipline, but admitted it was not the first incident of racial discrimination this year.
“When I drop my daughter off to school, I expect to see her when I come home,” the mother said.
These parents say they want clarity on the punishment, especially in light of a tumultuous school year that included a massive lock down of the district's three high schools back in December due to a different threat. They say this video is just as threatening and should result in charges and at the minimum, expulsion.
“We've got responses from the school that it's being handled, but we don't know how it’s being handled," one parent said. "When it’s something this serious, I'm expecting something more than, we’re handling it and don’t worry about it.”
In their statement sent to parents, the district also said there are counseling resources available to students and also encouraged students to report racist and threatening behavior.
