Aledo ninth-graders’ ‘slave auction’ of Black classmates should be a wake-up call to all white parents
Aledo ninth-graders’ ‘slave auction’ of Black classmates should be a wake-up call to all white parents
If we aren’t using recent incidents involving Dallas-Fort Worth area students to talk to our own kids about racism, we are part of the problem
Mothers Tamara Lawrence, left, and Mioshi Johnson spoke to the media Thursday night after addressing the Aledo ISD school board about a racist Snapchat group that targeted their ninth-grade sons.(Tom Fox / Staff Photographer)
Aledo ISD has plenty of academic achievement data to back up its “Growing Greatness” slogan. But this district, just west of Fort Worth, and the white families who have flocked there should look hard at what else is growing.
Parents of two Black students targeted in a “Slave Trade” on social media demand a change in the Aledo school district’s culture. Mioshi Johnson and Tamara.
Origin
In March 2021, Texas school district administrators learned of a purported mock slave auction organized by high school students on Snapchat. The students attended the Don R. Daniel Ninth Grade Campus at Aledo High School. They were subsequently disciplined by the Aledo Independent School District. Aledo is a suburb of Fort Worth.
Mock Bids and Racial Epithets
The news was first reported by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on April 12. It published that the students who participated in the group pretended to sell their Black classmates. They placed mock bids and posted comments about the bids.
A screenshot showed that the group name had at various times included the words “slave trade,” “farm,” and “auction.” When the screenshot was captured, the group name appeared to be a racial epithet followed by the word “auction.”