A group of students in Norfolk, Va., walked out of class Monday in protest over a tweet posted by their assistant principal, Amy Strickland. Students at Booker T. Washington High School came across the assistant principal’s tweet, which was posted over the summer, and described it as racist.
The tweet in question was retweeted by Strickland from the popular account @OrNahhTweets, and it showed a group of black teenage boys escorting white teenage girls to the prom.
https://twitter.com/OrNahhTweets/status/475689285157273600
Strickland, who is white and works under the school’s principal, Adrian Day, who is black, is a recent addition to the school’s administration.
“Those comments should really be kept to herself,” Michael LeMelle, a junior at Booker T. Washington, told WAVY.com.
“I could have been any one of the boys in the picture,” Michael said. “And I really don’t see myself, like I said earlier, as anyone’s worst nightmare.”
Although Strickland’s Twitter account is no longer active, the students would like Day to take action against Strickland. Michael’s father says racial tweets and secret tweets like Strickland’s should be the responsibility of the school board, council and the administration.
In light of the recent firing of another teacher over her social media practices, it will be interesting to see how the Norfolk school board handles this situation.