White students at a Mississippi high school put a noose around a black schoolmate's neck and "yanked backward," the state NAACP revealed Monday, the Associated Press reports.
According to the report, Mississippi NAACP spokesperson Ayana Kinnel said the incident took place Oct. 13 at a field house at the Stone County High School in Wiggins, Miss. The NAACP is accusing officials of not handling the situation properly, saying that no one has been charged with a crime in the incident and that the student's parents have not been told of any punishment for the other students involved.
"They failed to protect this student throughout this ordeal," the NAACP said, according to the newswire. "Allowing students to commit blatant hate crimes without severe consequences sends a message to students that their safety and well-being are not valuable enough to be protected.
“The students have not been expelled and the victim’s parents are not fully aware of any punishment,” the group added. “The school’s own policy calls for the automatic expulsion of any student committing a violent act against another student. Yet, to our knowledge, this policy has not been adhered to in this case.”
According to the Center Daily Times, the NAACP is calling for a federal hate crime investigation into the incident.
As AP notes, the names and ages of the students involved in the incident have not been released. Stone County NAAACP President Robert James identified the black student as a football player. A statement from his family said that he returned to practice after the incident, Kinnel said.
Read more at Talking Points Memo and the Center Daily Times.