A Georgia community that was thrust into the national spotlight over the weekend when two of its high school students posted an insensitive video online has been forced to address the larger issue of race relations and people’s perceptions of the diverse city.
As school and community leaders in Carrollton continue to grapple with the shocking incident that led to two expulsions, countless angry phone calls and a slew of negative headlines, some of those closest to the controversy are questioning if the offensive attitudes voiced in the video reflect “normal” views and if enough is being done to address them.
The video, initially posted to the social media platform TikTok on Thursday, showed the two Carrollton High seniors using the n-word and making disparaging remarks about black people.
Filmed in a bathroom, the students — one boy and one girl — mimic a cooking show as they pour cups of water into the sink.
MORE: Carrollton High seniors expelled for racist video 'will not be graduates,' district says
“First we have ‘black,’” the girl can be heard saying as the boy grabs one cup and pours it in. “Next we have ‘don’t have a dad.’”
While the disturbing video received swift blowback online and from school district leaders, a question about whether the incident was surprising earned a monosyllabic reply from the current president of Carroll County’s NAACP chapter:
“No.”
A now retired administrator, James Stocks moved to Carroll County from Ohio in 2000 and started a new position as an assistant principal. He said racism was prevalent within the school system at the time. Within his first two years, it was displayed boldly, he said.
“I had a student place a hangman’s noose on my office door,” he told AJC.com. “It is nothing new. But, again, it takes incidents like this to get it addressed.”
The video has since been removed by TikTok for violating the platform's community guidelines, according to a company spokesman. However, that wasn't before it gained national attention.
The 50-second clip was shared so many times that “Carrollton” was trending on Twitter by Friday morning.
The video was rebuked by Carrollton city and school district leaders.
“There was the question that in this day and age, social media is everywhere. How can someone put themselves in that position?” school board member Gil O’Neal said.
Carrollton City Schools Superintendent Mark Albertus said the behavior displayed by the students in the video was “unacceptable.”
In a separate statement, the district said it strongly condemns “racially offensive and disparaging conduct” and cited the Student Code of Conduct.
“It prohibits and punishes ‘actions that are ethnically and racially inflammatory,’ ‘profanity, or ethnic, racial, sexual or religious slurs,’ ‘cyberbullying’ and considers all such conduct to pose a ‘threat to the school community,’” the statement said.
It ended with: “Students not willing to abide by these rules are not allowed to be a part of the Carrollton City School System.”
Both students were expelled from the school Friday and won’t be allowed to graduate with their class, officials said.
“The racist behavior observed in the video easily violates (the district’s) standard,” Albertus said.
Stocks applauded the response, saying it was handled appropriately considering the circumstances.
“Due to the (COVID-19) pandemic, there is only so much a school system can do to punish a student from misbehaving,” he said.
However, he expressed concern that the response to the video addresses only an isolated incident — not the systemic issue.
“Something will be done in response to an incident, and then it is back to business as usual,” Stocks said. “But racism is something that needs to be addressed on an ongoing basis.”
Stocks pointed to the racial makeup of Carroll County as a whole and said the teaching staffs should better reflect that diversity. He added that many racially charged behaviors and beliefs are learned outside of the schools and reinforced in the community.
Until that changes, he predicted, incidents like this will continue to happen.
“Students — in many cases — are reflecting things they learn at home,” he said.
One of the students involved has apologized for the video since being expelled. In a since-deleted Instagram post, she pleaded that it should not prevent her from going to college.
Neither student has been named publicly by the school district due to the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, a federal law protecting students’ privacy.
“(The NAACP) will be monitoring what takes place,” Stocks said. “This exposed what happened at Carrollton High School, but this video could’ve been circulated at any school in the county.”
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