9-year-old African American California girl gets email with racial slur, noose image from classmate

[Judi Lynn]

By DAVID DOWNEY | Southern California News Group
PUBLISHED: June 13, 2020 at 6:40 a.m. | UPDATED: June 13, 2020 at 6:44 a.m.

Alisa Flowers’ 9-year-old daughter logged on to her laptop Wednesday, May 27 — two days after George Floyd died under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer — to retrieve her distance-learning assignments from Corona’s Lincoln Fundamental Elementary School.

The African American fourth grader opened an email to find expletives and a racial epithet aimed at her, with a computerized silhouette image of a person hanging from a noose.

And the person in the image appeared to be swinging back and forth, Flowers said.

“She ran upstairs crying and shaking and she said, ‘There is something in my email, there is something in my email,’” Flowers said. “‘Mommy, who did that? Who sent that to me?’”

Flowers closed the laptop.

Then she called the school, the Corona-Norco Unified School District and Corona police.

More:
https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/06/13/african-american-girl-gets-email-with-racial-slur-noose-image-from-corona-classmate/

[Wawannabe]

1. The parents of this boy should be investigated

Sounds like the only thing that might happen is the boy will be expelled from that private school. His parents had to have taught him these attitudes. Disgusting behavior for a 9 year old but SO much worse on the parents.

[Igel]

2. Depends on the intent.

Option 1: Everybody seems to be thinking it was to be racist and offensive under an alias. We must root out racism, and racism is in our "DNA", so that's obviously what's at play.

Option 2: Student using the victim-kid's email address to send them might have intended for a shitstorm to fall on that kid. He framed the kid and set him up for a serious take-down.

First investigate and ascertain motive. There might be options 3-28 that I'm not coming up with right now.


As for not releasing the kid's parents' names? FERPA. Equality means that good people get protected and bad people get protected.


Given the Internet, it's not always obvious where attitudes in kids come from. In/out-group behavior is innate, the forms it takes are culture-dependent, but this day and age ... The girl who wore cat ears 24/7 and adopted certain mannerisms because she considered herself "transspecies" did *not* learn that from her completely shocked parents.

I look at the white kid knee-deep in "hip-hop culture" and can't think, "His parents taught him that." Any more than the Latina who left home and dropped out of school the day she turned 18 because she found her parents so repressive, sexist, etc., etc., taught her to be a feminist and independent.

And the number of parents who've I heard say, "I ain't taught him that" after kid was caught cheating, stealing, fighting, assaulting, etc., is amazing. Perhaps some didn't. But I trust most of them, given the shock on their faces.

[stopdiggin]

3. you make good points

Yeah .. first of all, find out who is responsible. Did Johnnie do it? Did Johnnie do it alone, or is there a small (or large) cabal of little sh*ts that think this stuff is "funny?" Which puts a different dimension and character on the incident and behavior entirely.

And, also yeah .. the knee jerk response that "Well, you know where that is coming from!" Sometimes, yes. But a whole lot of times .. not the case at all. You give good examples where it's pretty clear that a lot of attitudes and behaviors are not coming from the home ... And yet people are almost determined to believe ...

And that reasoning and rationale also has deep (and not fully examined?) roots ...

[Wawannabe]

5. I am not sure if you are putting me on your couch

For evaluation or what exactly your dig is at the last of your post but it is somewhat uncalled for

I posted a reply that I hope explains my perspective.

[stopdiggin]

6. I did not reply to your post

so whatever "dig" you imagined in mine obviously was not aimed at you .. or your "couch."
And neither I nor the poster I responded to said that the child (or parents) shouldn't be investigated. In point of fact, I find the behavior described here quite unsettling .. particularly for that age group. I think both child and home situation should bear scrutiny here. I also hope there is some consequence, and some real counseling, as a result.

Where I perhaps disagree with you (can't speak for Igel, although I think we were on a similar track) is that I don't think that the parents (guardians) can automatically be assumed to be promoting or responsible for this behavior. It is possible of course .. but also far from given. I will continue to label that type of assumption to be knee jerk, shallow and often unfounded. It's not always the parents. And continuing to insist that it is serves only to reinforce stereotype and misinformation.

[Wawannabe]

4. Thanks for your reply

A nine year old (ish?) boy receives/gets his mores from those that have brought him up. Way too young to develop/mature as he will in experiences and age. Rare unicorn personalities are noted.

I only stated that they should be investigated. The harm that this minor child has caused is abhorrent. Multiple victims, including as you point out, the possible framing victim. The guardians (might be a better technical term) should be investigated. I did not imply or mean to imply they were guilty before proven innocent.

Idk how investigating a minor’s guardian is so debatable but I will cede the floor at this point.

[ucralum]

7. Not a private school nt