‘Stop hate racism’ says 11-year-old hospitalized in alleged Kansas City area assault
Just days after a boy attacked her in an allegedly racially motivated assault, 11-year-old Nevaeh Thomas of Kansas City, Kansas, called for an end to racism.
“We need to stop hate racism,” Nevaeh read from a statement during a press conference Thursday at the Empowerment Temple in Kansas City, Kansas. “It’s wrong and it’s wrong to hurt people with words and weapons.”
It’s OK to be different or have a difference of opinions, she said.
“But it’s not OK to hate and judge each other on their color and their skin,” she said. “I think we should start talking about these things before another kid gets hurt because they have they have the wrong skin color.”
According to her mother, Nevaeh was visiting friends at a Shawnee apartment on Aug. 28 when a white 12-year-old boy who lived in the complex started yelling racist epithets at the girls, all of whom are Black.
The boy left and allegedly returned with a knife. He left again and returned a second time, with a pole. He allegedly struck Nevaeh over the head, knocking her unconscious. She spent the night in the hospital and received eight stitches to her mouth. She is recovering from a concussion.
The family said it took two hours and the their pleas to get Shawnee police to take the boy into custody.
The boy has since been charged with one count of aggravated battery and was on house arrest.
The suspect’s name has not been released by Johnson County officials because he is a minor. His defense attorney did not respond to The Star’s request for comment before publication time.
Nevaeh’s family’s lawyer, LaRonna Lassiter Saunders, said that they not only want to see justice for Nevaeh but to bring about change in society.
“It’s time to start talking about racism,” she said. “Our kids should be able to play, play in a park without being attacked because of the color of their skin.”
Nevaeh’s mother, Brandi Stewart, said it was bad enough finding out her daughter was injured in an assault. But when she found her daughter’s attacker was yelling racist language at her and her friends, that was pain piled on top of pain.
“As a mom, my biggest worry had been that Nevaeh might be kidnapped when she went an played outside,” she said. “I don’t think I ever would have imagined that I ever would have had to worry about her being a victim of a racially motivated attack.”
In addition to calling for justice for her daughter, Stewart said she hopes the system does all it can to rehabilitate the boy so he learns that hate and violence is not healthy.
“Our hearts have been broken since last Friday when this heinous crime took place,” said family’s pastor, the Rev. Terry Bradshaw of Empowerment Temple. “Little Nevaeh should be enjoying the perks of being a child, instead she has been baptized in persecution through racism all because of the color of her skin.”
Someone asked Bradshaw what Nevaeh did to cause the boy to attack her and call her racial slurs.
“She stood up and refused to be bullied because of the color of her skin,” he said. “The only thing Nevaeh is guilty of is being Black and beautiful.”
This story was originally published September 3, 2020 at 5:11 PM.
