Students at Fordyce High School are actively protesting administrators’ decision to give two students, a Black victim and a white aggressor, the same penalty for an on-campus fight.
Late last month, a video began circulating on social media showing a “white bully” antagonizing a Black student in the school locker room. As the Black student is getting dressed, the larger aggressor criticizes him and makes rude comments about his mother, which the victim brushes off and ignores.
The white student continues to torment the victim before ultimately pushing and throwing things at him. The pair then get physical and—about two minutes into the video—the “white bully” places the Black student in a headlock until he goes unconscious. The Black student was then left on the floor as the white one kicked him and stomped on his head.
No other students intervened during the violent assault and there was not a single adult in sight. It’s also unclear exactly how long the victim was left unconscious.
Fordyce High School in Fordyce, AR. The video shows a boy being bullied and assaulted. Charges should be filed. Both boys were suspended. The boy being bullied was literally suspended for defending himself. This is also not the first incident involving this same bully. pic.twitter.com/LCOLoFdqst
— Brad Betts (@870South) February 25, 2022
Once school officials learned of the incident, they chose to suspend both students for 10 days, even though the video shows the Black victim clearly trying to de-escalate the situation numerous times. Students and parents began protesting this decision, and there has been a public outcry on social media and in-school protests.
“The same amount of punishment, like, that’s not right,” Enough Smith, a 2021 Fordyce High School graduate, said. “You can see in the video that he didn’t want to fight the guy and the guy still was picking on him, throwing shoes on him.”
Concerns over the school’s handling of the situation have resulted in the Fordyce School District being left in hot water. Superintendent Judy Hubbell was vague when speaking on the matter.
“This video came to light about two days ago and we can’t discuss student discipline because that is confidential information. We are in the process of investigating this case and taking care of it,” she said.
“We don’t want bullying on our campus. We want to have a safe campus, but this just came to light and we are working on this; we are talking through the process,” Hubbell added. “There have been disciplinary measures, but I can’t tell you what those measures are. I can’t tell you who’s involved or anything like that.”
No further information on the matter is currently available and we hope the victim is recovering well.
