A high school valedictorian says her principal intentionally cut her mic audio during her graduation speech on Saturday because she mentioned the names of two Black youth killed by police.
Rooha Haghar, a senior at Emmett J. Conrad High School in Dallas, shared footage of the incident to Twitter on Monday.
In the video, Haghar tells the crowd: "To the kids that were murdered in senseless mass shootings. To Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice and all the other children who became victims of injustice –"
Her mic was then cut.
The bewildered teen can be seen tapping her mic and looking around the room before taking her seat. School principal Temesghen Asmerom then heads to the podium and addresses the crowd. The mic begins to work again.
my valedictorian speech was cut short because i said the names of black children who had become victims of police brutality. our principal signaled for my mic to be turned off as soon as i said “trayvon martin and tamir rice” and played it off as a technical difficulty. pathetic. pic.twitter.com/9upW3dZ7Mg
— روحا (@ItsRoohaHaghar) June 3, 2019
"(M)y valedictorian speech was cut short because I said the names of black children who had become victims of police brutality," Haghar captioned her post, which has over 70,000 likes and 30,000 retweets. "Our principal signaled for my mic to be turned off as soon as i said “trayvon martin and tamir rice” and played it off as a technical difficulty. pathetic."
Since the tweet is getting more attention than she expected, Haghar shared transcript of that particular section of her speech, for context.
since this is getting more attention than i expected, here’s that section of my speech (for context) pic.twitter.com/4dsf865AZk
— روحا (@ItsRoohaHaghar) June 3, 2019
She wanted her classmates to remember, as they received their diplomas that night, how there are students who got robbed of the opportunity to move on to better things.
She concluded: "No matter which path you take in life, or where you end up in the next decade, remember you have an obligation to your community, and to the world at large."
In a follow-up tweet, Haghar said she thinks her principal cut the mic out of ignorance.
"We all have room for growth. i never meant to create more divisiveness," she stated. "But I also feel like certain conversations need to be had."
some more context and background information. i really think my principal did this out of ignorance, and we all have room for growth. i never meant to create more divisiveness, but i also feel like certain conversations need to be had pic.twitter.com/1YOEe8a91d
— روحا (@ItsRoohaHaghar) June 4, 2019
The teen said she first read her speech to a teacher the week before, but was told that mentioning the names of Trayvon Martin and Tamir Rice would "incite anger toward white people."
"He advised me to take that line out completely. I didn't," she wrote.
Martin, a 17-year-old, was fatally shot by George Zimmerman, in February 2012 in Sanford, Florida. Rice, 12, was fatally shot in November 2014 outside a Cleveland Recreation Center.
Even after being "advised," Haghar refused to censor her speech.
"If the names Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Jordan Edwards and Michael Brown make you uncomfortable, then you are completely aware of what's happening and have chosen to remain silent," she wrote in a follow-up. "I knew the risk I was taking, but never expected to be silenced."