BEDFORD, Mass. – After students played a video promoting racial stereotypes during the morning announcements, school administrators are dismissing it as a “teachable moment.”
A group of students at Bedford High School who produce “BHS Live” created a video called “Sh*t White People Say,” which played off racial stereotypes allegedly held by their white peers.
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It featured a black girl wearing a blonde wig, several school employees and a number of minority students.
It warns white students to “NOT ASSume” things about their black classmates.
“I’m very offended by what I saw,” parent Bob Marshall tells Fox 25. “It was a very disgusting video, very hurtful video.”
“A lot of them were upset by what they saw,” Marshall he says of students who watched it during morning announcements.
“I’m shocked that a video like that could be displayed and that nobody oversaw it.”
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School administrators are pleading ignorance.
In a letter sent home to parents after the incident, the school’s principal says, ” … there has not been a vetting process of videos for BHS Live. Therefore, the video was not previewed by any administrator, student or teacher surrounding BHS Live. A protocol for vetting student videos is being developed.”
That seems a little hard to believe, given that three adults participated in the production.
Superintendent John Sills says while “it was framed in a way that was offensive,” it was a positive thing that the video spurred “conversations.”
“I would never say it’s good when something offensive happens. But we always seek to find positives, and we continue to work to derive learning from it,” according to Sills.
That’s not good enough for Marshall.
“To me, it’s smoke and mirrors to say oh, it was a learning lesson,” Marshall says. “Somebody needs to be held accountable and somebody needs to lose their job over it.”
According to the superintendent, no employees will face disciplinary action.
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