A West Virginia family was subjected to racist threats that left them considering moving out of state. Atlanta Black Star reported that a school staff member from Pendleton County School sent racist messages containing threats to the family.
The family that was victimized by the racist threats speak about what happened. Romeo and Bethany Perez revealed that they experienced ongoing racism for years in Pendleton County. The abuse also extended to their children who were studying at Pendleton County School. “This isn’t the first time we’ve dealt with this. This has been going on for years,” Bethany Perez told WHSV.
Pendleton County family speaks out on threatening, racist messages | Story: https://t.co/tSv5e5wm56 pic.twitter.com/hrpz8rQegV
— WHSVnews (@WHSVnews) March 20, 2026
Romeo Perez shared an incident where he was banned from school property for a year. He went to see a school football game where his son was playing. Unfortunately, Perez and his daughter were called racial slurs by someone in the crowd. So, Romeo Perez ended up pushing the person and was banned by the school.
Later, Perez and his family were later targeted on social media after one of the school staff members sent him violent threats in text messages. “In the messages, it’s like ‘coming and finding me and putting a belt around my neck,’ and like, that’s a threat,” Romeo recalled. The family said that kind of language crossed a serious line and made them feel unsafe.
Pendleton County School later confirmed that one of their part-time coaches was behind this and has been fired. On March 13, 2026, the school board posted an official statement on Facebook, claiming that they were “shocked” to learn about the incident.
“We were shocked and disturbed during our review of the messages. This language and behavior do not reflect the values or expectations of Pendleton County Schools. Our school system is committed to fostering an environment of respect, dignity, and inclusion for all students, families, and members of our community,” the post read.
In that statement, the school division announced that the person was immediately fired from their post after the school became aware it. The school system also apologized to the family directly affected by the messages.
White People always say, “Why do Blacks make everything about race?” It’s because America is literally a country rooted in racism, built on a racial hierarchy that puts whiteness at the top and blackness at the bottom. There are laws to ensure this hierarchy never goes away pic.twitter.com/8ZWMRwntLb
— kevin blue (@kevinblue345) March 19, 2026
The school said, “Because this conduct is unequivocally inconsistent with those values, the individual is no longer serving as a citizen coach within Pendleton County Schools. Immediate action was taken to end the individual’s services in that role.”
“We sincerely apologize to the family who was directly impacted by these messages. While the messages were communicated in the individual’s personal capacity using private social media or technology, they nonetheless cast an unwanted shadow on our school system, given his former coaching role,” Pendleton County School wrote.
Meanwhile, the school division considers the matter resolved after they fired the culprit and apologized on social media. But it did not resolve the pain Perez and his family had to endure for years. The family said they have already purchased a home in Virginia and plan to move out in June,
