A white middle school student from Connecticut was recently kicked out of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C. after spitting on a black visitor.
The student and his class from Shelton Intermediate School in Connecticut were promptly ejected on Friday, Buzzfeed reports.
And now the school’s principal, who was on the trip, is saying the student’s actions were stupid, not racist.
“The incident at the African American Museum involved a student spitting over a balcony,” said Principal Dina Marks on Twitter. “It allegedly hit a visitor, a person of color. It was an act of stupidity, disinterest, & immaturity, completely inappropriate, but I believe, not racially motivated against that person.”
The incident at the African American Museum involved a student spitting over a balcony.It allegedly hit a visitor, a person of color.It was an act of stupidity, disinterest, & immaturity, completely inappropriate, but I believe, not racially motivated against that person.
— Dina Marks (@dinamarks) October 12, 2019
In a community letter posted online Friday night, the school’s Superintendent said the unidentified student “embarrassed himself and his school.”
“This kind of action is not a reflection of who our students are, or who we are as a community,” SuperintendentChris Clouet wrote. “This is not the time or place to talk about consequences.”
“But this is now, regrettably, a pattern of behavior that is disrespectful and does not serve anyone well — including the student who acted inappropriately and embarrassed himself and his school,” he added
Greg Johnson, president of the Ansonia Valley NAACP,told the Hartford Courant that the location of the incident was racist in itself.
“He didn’t spit on anyone at the Washington Monument or the Lincoln Memorial,” Johnson said. “It’s an embarrassment not only to Shelton, but to Connecticut.”
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