A school bully threatened to sell a black teen into slavery, parents want swift action

A school in Indianapolis has come under fire for inadequately handling a bullying case where a student told another student that he would sell them to slavery if she fails to do what he had wanted. 

The Horizon Christian School was accused by Alexander Wortham, a parent who stated that his daughter, Imani, has been asking to stay back home more often than usual.

Together with another parent, Dominique Duncan, Wortham found out that their daughters were victims of bullying. 

According to the teens, Imani and LaShanti, a male student started bullying them at school, telling them: “If the school ever gets shot up, you’ll be the first one to get shot.”

Imani added, “he pointed to me personally, he looked me in the eye.”

“He said he would sell me into slavery if I didn’t do what he said and then he started making little jingles about slavery,” LaShanti said.

Both Wortham and Duncan felt let down by the school.

“Silence is killing our young people. People not dealing with the issue. Not dealing with the problem and I think for us, as parents, enough is enough,” Wortham said.

According to the Indy Channel, the school had suspended the unnamed perpetrator after the parents complained but allowed him to return soon after. However, the girls felt uncomfortable and decided to stay home. 

“We should be able to go to school and not feel threatened, scared or having to be on edge the whole time,” Imani said.

Both parents want the school to put in place measures to not only handle bullying but also discuss race relations. 

Education on race and slavery in many American schools has come under scrutiny, especially after a report by the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Teaching Tolerance project indicated that there was a failure to teach the nuances and accurate history of slavery in the U.S.

The school has not commented on the issue over privacy concerns.