Waco Private School Dragged Into Conflict Over Racially Motivated Rope Burns On Black Student
The Waco Tribune-Herald reports that protesters are demanding answers for why a rope burn appeared on the neck of a 12-year-old black girl a month ago, suggesting that it was intentionally caused and racially motivated by white students.
On April 28, the students of Live Oak Classical School, a private school in Waco, Texas, were on a field trip to Enchanted Rock State Natural Area at a private ranch between Johnson City and Fredericksburg, when she apparently had what the school claims is an accident on a rope swing.
The original report was made by the Dallas Morning News’ Scoop Blog, where it says that the girl’s mother, Sandy Rougely, believes that her daughter had already been bullied for months before the incident occurred.
Apparently there are copies of emails between the dean of the school Allison Buras and Sandy about her daughter being bullied, saying she was pushed, kicked, and made fun of throughout the year.
But Sandy also says that after sending those emails to Buras, the dean began to say that her daughter was withdrawn from her classmates, which wasn’t something she told her before she started complaining about the bullying.
She also says that before the recent school year, bullying was not an issue.
“The Rope Swing” section of the article details the incident, explaining that the rope swing has a seat made of rope, which needs the help of others to pull with additional rope in order for it to swing like a pendulum. When they let go, the rope drops to the ground.
After helping to swing other kids, her daughter stood by to watch when she says that she felt the rope go around her neck from behind, which pulled her to the ground and dragged her backward.
She said there were pieces of rope embedded in her neck but that no one helped her. When she looked back, she saw three white boys who she says had already been picking on her.
They denied they did anything, but the little girl feels they did it on purpose.
The article goes into more reasons as to why Sandy, the authorities, and the protesters want answers for what appear to be legitimate questions.
For instance, they wonder why the school didn’t notify her when the incident happened, as she only learned of it when her daughter arrived home.
CBS affiliate KWTX out out Waco reported that last Friday that a group of more than 100 protesters stood outside of the school to protest what they say was is a civil rights issue over the 12-year-old student.
The report says that the school was already closed, and soon afterwards, the Dallas protesters moved through the neighborhoods, which apparently upset a lot of people in the area.
It’s also been noted in these reports that this incident parallels an incident involving a black man named Jesse Washington, who was lynched in Waco, back in May 15, 1916.
Clearly, the school feels that Sandy’s response to this is an over reaction, but there is also some conflicting information in the reports, where the school says that the mother’s attorney demanded millions, while another report says that the school had initially asked their attorney how much they wanted to settle for, before they were told the amount before refusing it.
Protest in front of Live Oak Classical School in Waco after 12-year-old black girl got rope burns after school camp. pic.twitter.com/m2DyNG9uaw
— Estephany Escobar (@EstephanyNews) May 27, 2016
The student has already been pulled from the school amid the acknowledgement that the situation has escalated to the point where protesters are involved, repeating scenes of activism and anger from the Black Lives Matter movement against bullying.
Currently, it would appear that there is no solution than for these parties to go through this process. Questionable mistakes were made and vulnerabilities will be exposed to, at the very least, prevent bullying from rearing its ugly head at the private school.
[Image by Aly1963 (resized and cropped) via Flickr / CC BY 2.0]
