Danielle Husband
The Woodlands High School is facing community backlash after a couple said a racist threat sent to their teen daughter student was improperly addressed by the school.
Videos by Rare
When his daughter came to him to say she was in fear for her life, R.J. King asked her why.
When she showed him the reason, he couldn’t believe his eyes.
On her phone, the girl showed him a threat message she received from a white male classmate, which read as follows:
“yall always gotta be starting shit [sic]. we should have hung all u n——— while we had the chance and trust me it would make the world better.”
RELATED: New study concludes that Dallas is worse than Houston — at traffic
King said he read the message three or four times because he didn’t believe what he was seeing.
He further said the Snapchat came in response to a post his daughter shared in support of players’ kneeling protests sweeping the NFL.
R.J. and his wife Latoika immediately contacted the school over the incident, wanting to ensure their daughter — along with the other African American students — were in a safe place to attend school.
After Student Gets Racist Snapchat Message, Woodlands School Suggests She Could Transfer https://t.co/zDwXytyDgr pic.twitter.com/V8cmDwwILJ
— Houston Informer (@houstoninformer) October 11, 2017
Initially, responses assured the situation would be quickly handled; however, they said they soon learned what the school meant:
An email sent back to the parents by Principal Jill Houser informed the Kings their daughter would receive access to crisis counseling, and the boy would be removed from her classes.
The email further provided how, if she was still feeling afraid, she should consider changing schools.
“This was a serious threat, so we thought we were going to get a serious response,” R.J. King said in an interview with the Houston Press. “We thought the only way to ensure that the situation was handled was that he be removed from that school, because he may put her at risk and also other students of African-American descent at risk. When we weren’t getting a response as far as what was going to be done, it threw us for a loop.”
The Kings said their daughter already encountered another incident with the boy at school, despite their changed schedules.
RELATED: Construction around confederate cemetery draws attention in Dallas
On Wednesday, the Kings participated in a press conference hosted by their lawyer Randall Kallinen.
While the Kings are not suing the school at this time, they said they do want to ensure their daughter is with access to a safe education.
“Sending your child to school, you shouldn’t have to worry about their safety,” Latoika King said at the event.
This is a developing story.
