GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. -- After posting this story about a viral video and sharing it last night at 11, we've gotten *A LOT* of reaction from you.
Let's recap. Guilford County Schools told us they were taking action after two Northwest Guilford High School students posted a video on social media. You can hear the two teens making several racist slurs. Even though the video wasn't taken on school grounds, is taking action after two Northwest Guilford High School students posted a racist video on social media. Even though it wasn't taken on school grounds, Tony Watling, the Chief of Schools, says it was hateful speech and that the students were punished.
The video really struck a nerve; with parents who don't want hate in their kids schools; with a district who vows to put schools through tolerance training; with alumni who say nothing's changed.
One mom wrote that the video brought her daughter to tears after seeing it on instagram.
"It was difficult to watch," explains Autumn Holmes. "I had to stop it several times and restart it."
Autumn's daughter is in middle school and is supposed to attend Northwest next year.
"She explained to me she was scared," Autumn says. "She didn’t feel safe. She was hurt, she didn’t understand how somebody could feel this way still this day. "
Autumn adds that her daughter is bi-racial and that she and her friends often hear hate in the halls at school.
"I asked her why she doesn’t address this with anyone and her response was, 'It’s not going to matter. It's never going to change.'"
Before the video came out Autumn planned to talk with her daughter's middle school principal, a mom-mode reaction when your child feels like they can't change anything.
She had that meeting Tuesday morning and Autumn says the middle school will be working on tolerance training, just like Northwest Guilford High School in the wake of the video.
The organization helping with this is the National Conference for Community and Justice of the Piedmont Triad, or NCCJ. Ivan Canada, the executive director, told me this is something they'll work on with students and teachers throughout the year.
He says he wants to include students in the approach and expects it will probably be a mix of small-group workshops and larger assembly-style trainings for both students and staff.
The idea is to keep talking about these race issues, their implications and how the community can be more inclusive. It's a conversation Autumn thinks should keep on going.
" I know that it’s hard for a lot of people to talk about racial issues, regardless on which side they are but it’s got to be addressed. It just can’t be ignored, thrown under the rug and just accepted as the way life is."
Another mother reached out to WFMY News 2 via email. She says after seeing this story and the video, her Trinity felt prompted to post sticky notes around school, spreading words of kindness. Here's part of the email from Renee De Risio:
"She took some post it notes during her lunch time and wrote happy thoughts and words of love, acceptance, and encouragement and posted them throughout the hallways. On the way to the bus after school, about 2 hours later, she saw a sign that had been put up that said "Spread The Sticky Notes" with a basket of sticky notes and pencils for students to write on and post."