Two years ago, a minority student at Cor Jesu High School in St. Louis came forth stating that she had been subjected to numerous racial incidents. The student claimed a slur was yelled in the cafeteria, yet no teacher or student heard this. She stated she was always being asked about hair products she used and can they touch her hair …. In addition, she stated, anytime there was a reference to slavery or civil rights, everyone looked to her and she stated she felt singled out. There was never any other Cor Jesu student who backed up her information except a small group of her friends. In addition, her mother was allowed to use the school email list in order to send the parents of the student body a lengthy letter regarding her daughter and the alleged incidents surrounding her daughter. The parent’s use of school-wide email would never be tolerated under any circumstance. After all of the turmoil, the student body nor the parents were given any resolve and the minority student left the school of her own accord. A diversity group was formed the next year. In October of 2017, an LGBT wall of famous lesbian, gay individuals was allowed to be displayed in the school. Numerous parents voiced concern in light of the fact that it is a Catholic school. There was no animousity towards this, just the fact that this lifestyle is not condoned by the Catholic Church. The pictures were later removed and the diversity group was supposedly monitored more closely.
In late August, after only two weeks into the school year, a minority freshman stated there was a racial slur stated as she passed a group of seniors. Our TGP source stated that by the end of the day on Wednesday, the entire senior class was summoned and questioned about this. They were told that certainly someone had been in the group and knew about this, so please come forward because the individual should be held accountable. Sr. Veronica expressed her disappointment and said that they needed to review the diversity training. The next day in school, various teachers discussed the issue and expressed the “privilege” these girls come from. While the majority of the girls are cognizant of this “privilege”, it seems unnecessary for a teacher to state this as if it were a bad thing. On Thursday, Sr. Veronica said the issue was confidential (not sure why this would be since the entire class had been basically accused). The sister expressed the school was investigating the issue and was very disappointed in the fact that it had happened – even though no one had corroborated her claims. She also stated that the girl singled out the seniors because they were allowed to wear pink shirts. Supposedly, this was the reason this student identified the group as seniors after only two weeks at the school. That Friday, the entire student body was brought to assembly. The same alleged facts were given but now it was stated that the comment was made by a sophomore, junior or senior. The discrepency is interesting since it was alleged the group had on pink shirts. The rest of the student body wears navy blue shirts. On this same day, one senior was summoned to the office and told that they were told she knew something about the incident. She stated that she had no idea what was said or what happened. Sr. continued to question and asked if any of her friends were aware of the situation. Again she stated that she had no idea and after further discussion, it was discovered that this student was in class at the time of the incident. Our source at the school stated that they are not surprised by any of this except the fact that they brought in one girl individually for questioning. The fact that the girl is a minor and the questioning was of a very serious subject which could involve dire consequence was not considered. It is well beyond the school’s scope to bring in a student and question them in this fashion without their parent when the details are sketchy at best.
A similar racial situation reportedly occurred at Mizzou a couple years ago. A group of minority students claimed that they were walking on the sidewalk and some students in a fraternity house yelled racist comments. The news went viral and many media outlets reported the story. After further investigation, it was revealed that the minority group was yelling “racial” comments from the sidewalk, thus invoking a yelling match back and forth. This discrepency was never reported in the media. It is important that institutions remain very cautious as to what is reported about individuals and to the public until that institution has conducted a thorough investigaion.
So what begins with a very narrow search of a senior who supposedly yelled a racial slur has now encompassed the entire student body. No one has been told what was said, nor does any other student corroborate this claim. The parents have been notified that the school is investigating. Hopefully, this time the parents and the student body will be given the respect of hearing the final resolution. If the incident occurred, it is important to show the student body that this will not be tolerated and consequences will be given, If, however, the claim is found to be false or grossly exaggerated, it is important for consequences to be given to the individual and, again, show that this behavior is not acceptable. Anything less, harbors resentment within both the students and parents who have been brought into the situation by the administration. It is unfortunate that the schools or instituions do not recognize this as a type of abuse students are put through these days out of fear of harassment and retaliation by the thought police.
