Black Classmate Allegedly Attacked By White Students With Noose
Mississippi NAACP state president Derrick Johnson speaking on the incident at a press conference
A black high school football player in Mississippi alleges that four white students attacked him with a noose.
According to the Mississippi NAACP the students (both the victim and those accused have yet to be identified) were in the locker room at Stone County High School in Wiggins, Mississippi, when the black student was allegedly lassoed with a noose around his neck and pulled backwards.
The victim's mother was discouraged from pressing charges because the father of one of the attackers is a former law enforcement officer.
The school has reportedly not done much in handling the incident. The students involved in the attack have not been expelled, and it has not been reported to the police.
"No child should be in fear of going to school," Derrick Johnson, state president of the NAACP, said. "No child should be walking down the hall going to the locker room and be accosted with a noose. This is 2016, not 1916."
In another report from the Sun Herald Johnson also said that racial tensions had bene building at the school even before this incident, when some of the players "came to school brandishing Confederate flags from their vehicles."
"Wiggins has always been a trouble spot," Johnson added. "It's a small knit community of African Americans. There's always been fear."
Stone County Superintendent Inita Owen released a statement Monday evening in regards to the incident.
"I will not comment on this matter at this time, nor will I address a matter of student discipline in the press," Owen said. "I can assure everyone that the Stone County School District takes all matters involving students very seriously and will do everything within its power to make sure that all policies and procedures were adhered to and that all of its students have a safe place to receive an education."
