A school district in Kansas has been roiled as students—both past and present—line up with claims that the institution perpetuates a racist environment, causing terror in some Black pupils who are too frightened to return to school.
The Shawnee Mission Unified School District said it has attempted to implement diversity and equity training, but Black students still claim it’s rife with toxicity.
On Thursday, the Black Student Solidarity Network—a student-led activist organization that serves both Kansas and Missouri—assembled a massive community protest after a white male student at Shawnee Mission East High School was filmed repeatedly hurling the N-word at a Black female student before physically attacking her.