Christ Church Episcopal Seniors Stand Against Racism

Oh there are days when I have such high hopes for the future, and the future generations, and today’s high hopes come from a group of high school students right here in South Carolina.

Last week a sophomore at Christ Church Episcopal School in Greenville, South Carolina, was expelled after posting a photo to Snapchat of four male black students from the school that he doctored with swastikas and nooses around the boys' necks.

How sweet, no? What was sweet, however, was what happened next. 

As the news of that disgusting photo began to break all over the school, the students realized they needed to do something, and quick, before their school became labeled as some kind of racist high school. A way to show the community, the black and white communities, and the students, that the actions of one idiot sophomore do not represent the school at large.

So the seniors of Christ Church stayed up all night creating the banner you see on the left, reading, “We are Family Cavalier Strong," in the school colors. In the bottom right corner, the banner is signed: “With love, Class of 2015.”

“That symbolizes that we’re all united as one. Being a Cavalier brings us all together. It doesn’t matter what race, what age, what background you come from. I think that being at Christ Church is a very special thing that we all share, a common bond.” — student body president Valerie Pruc

Then the seniors took a photo of three girls of different races holding hands beneath the banner in the hopes that this new image will replace the image of the four black students posted by the expelled tenth grader.

Now, you can say it’s just a poster; just a hand-painted sign across the front of the building, but what I find important about the story is the swiftness with which the students acted. There was no meeting, no vote, no question, that the actions of the one racist student needed to be addressed and shut down instantly.

You want to end racism? Stop it the very minute you see it, like the Seniors at Christ Church Episcopal School have done.

via NCRM