My Black middle-schooler was taunted over slavery in his Blue Springs classroom

When I got up on Monday, I was not aware of what the day would bring, as usual. While checking my missed calls, I saw I had a lone voicemail from Moreland Ridge Middle School, which both my sons attend. It was the assistant principal leaving words that would make my heart sink and blood boil at the same time.

Her message was that something inappropriate had been said to my son Jeremiah at school, and that we needed to talk. After playing phone tag, I finally learned what the words were. She told me Jeremiah was sitting in the classroom when another student shouted at him from across the room: “Is that cotton?”

Jeremiah is the only African American student in the class. He and the classmate who taunted him had learned about slavery together. They read about how slaves were brutally forced to toil in the cotton fields. Those words were intentional. They were used to intentionally hurt my son. I asked how he took what was said to him, and he responded: “I took it personal and racist because slaves picked cotton.” If my son is 11 and has this clear understanding, no one can tell me that the other student did not have that same understanding.

The assistant principal said she and Jeremiah processed the situation together, and I thought to myself: How? I told her that although I am sure she was full of compassion, there was entirely no way that she knew how my son was feeling. She does not look like him, just as the overwhelming majority of the school staff doesn’t. How could she possibly understand?

Once my son got home, I asked how he was feeling. His response was, “Not good.” His head was hurting uncontrollably and I could see he was upset from his physical appearance. Jeremiah asked if he could stay home the day after the incident. He wanted to be surrounded by love — and his family made sure to shower him with it, at the same time reiterating to him how uniquely made and great he is. I do not want my son to grow up thinking his skin color is a burden instead of a blessing.

The school was very apologetic and saw fit to suspend the student who derided my son for three days for discrimination. I initially thought this meant three days away from school grounds, but I learned the child was only given in-school suspension. So the school metes out the same punishment for using a racial slur as for being tardy. Wow — talk about equality. This young person has three days to deal with what he did, while Jeremiah has to deal with this incident for the rest of his life.

I refuse to have my son’s story swept under the rug. I am here to take a stand — not only for my children, but for every African American child being educated in the Blue Springs School District. I am speaking up for how our children are feeling and what they face. I want to make it so that we no longer allow any child to feel comfortable making Black children feel uncomfortable. Education starts at home, and we are in a critical time when we need serious conversations about race.

Jeremiah, his brother and I are members of the NAACP Kansas City, and I believe the time is now for us to expand. A local branch needs to be brought to Blue Springs, where there is obviously a major lack of education. I have been in contact with the NAACP, and it is launching an investigation into the episode at my son’s school.

Change needs to happen. Let’s learn how to live together, because Black people are not going anywhere or allowing anyone to run us off. We are in Blue Springs, and we are here to stay.

LaKeisha Veal is a Blue Springs planning commissioner and vice chair of the city’s Downtown Review Board. She is executive director of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Sandi’s Kids, whose mission is to educate, enrich and advance the lives of young people. She is currently enrolled in the Blue Springs Citizen’s Police Academy.

This story was originally published September 30, 2021 at 5:00 AM.