Starting a new school can be a difficult transition for any young student. It’s a shame when one of the things making the change difficult is racism.
Nivre Robinson, an 11-year-old black boy, has reportedly been the victim of racial harassment at his new school, Ridley Middle School in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania. His mother claims that a white classmate punched Nivre during an argument between classes, WTXF-TV reports.
Children fight; but things didn't end with a physical altercation.
“As they were going inside the classroom, the student then said to my son, ‘That’s why you are a n*gger’ — said that to my son,” claimed Liante Robinson, Nivre's mother. “[Nivre was] pretty much shocked, just couldn’t believe it.”
A day after the reporting incident, another white classmate went “birther” on Nivre, and interrogated him regarding his birthplace. After playing President Trump, "the young man then goes and sits at another table and speaks to another student and says, ‘You know I could kill [Nivre], right?'” Robinson said.
Robinson wants school administrators to take appropriate action for the attacks on her son. She said that only a little information was shared with her, but that the students’ dean did confirm that the boy who punched Nivre had been suspended.
“He just kept saying to me that it’s a 3-day suspension for physical contact, that’s it,” she noted. “If he would not have physically assaulted my child, he would not have been suspended.”
Nivre wants to continue going to the school. But his mother isn't so sure it's a good fit.
“You are not insuring me that you can keep my son safe,” Robinson said, noting that she kept Nivre home one day while trying to decide what to do. “You’re not giving me answers. You’re not doing anything.”
The superintendent told WTXF-TV that, along with the suspension, the boy who attacked Nivre would have to undergo required counseling sessions, and his parents would be required to attend a conference with school officials before the boy could return to school. Nivre has also been offered counseling as well.
