Neither South Forsyth High School officials nor many students were impressed or amused by a "senior prank" that involved hanging a sign declaring "N—ga We Made It!" from the side of the school building Tuesday night, Fox 5 reports.
The phrase, linked to a lyric in a popular Drake song, was also drawn on some school windows, and the images quickly made their way to social media, prompting the school to respond with official statements.
"South Forsyth High School Parents: This morning, without our knowledge, students placed a derogatory sign with a verse from a song by Drake on our school as a senior prank. We removed it as soon as it was brought to our attention and deeply apologize for their behavior. This is unacceptable and I promise you that the students will receive the appropriate consequences for their actions," one statement read, according to the news site.
"They could have took off that word," a black senior, Islam McKenzie, told the news station. "Not all students can be like, 'Oh, that's funny. I think it's a joke.' … it's not always like that."
"I definitely think that they don't understand the magnitude of it," added another senior, Michael Crookshanks, who is white.
The school's principal, Jeff Cheney, told Fox 5 that an ethnically and racially diverse group of students sneaked into the school Tuesday night to hang the sign for all to see the following morning.
"I immediately became aware and within three minutes had staff on the roof to remove the sign because it's very offensive to me and I don’t want our students to be a part of that in any way, shape or form," Cheney told the news station, adding that those involved will be punished.
Read more at Fox 5.