Students in Tuscaloosa, Alabama staged a walk out earlier this week after allegedly being told that they couldn’t talk about slavery and civil rights during a Black History Month program. It was originally scheduled to take place on February 22nd.
The program’s board member J’Niyah Suttles, who is a senior at Hillcrest High School, participated in the walkout and told WBMA-TV that they were instructed to leave out pivotal historical moments because “one of our administrators felt uncomfortable.”
She continued: “My protector from 8 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. — for you to tell me I can’t talk about something that is dealing with my culture is very disturbing, it’s very confusing.” Jamiyah Brown, a senior who helped arrange the program and organized the walkout, told the news station: “Without our history we are nothing. Without teaching our youth where we come from, how can we move forward?”
Tuscaloosa County Superintendent Dr. Keri Johnson released a statement saying these allegations are false:
“It is not true that faculty or staff told students that slavery or the civil rights movement could not be part of the program. When several community members heard this and contacted Hillcrest High administration out of concern, administration explained to them that this was false information that was circulating. A number of our Hillcrest High students have concerns about the culture within their school. We care deeply about our students, and it is important that their concerns are heard. We are putting together a plan to make sure our students feel heard, so that we know the right steps to put in place to ensure all students know that they are valued.”
NAACP President of the Tuscaloosa Branch, Lisa Young, remarked about how despicable it is for a school to try to erase history. “I don’t know how you can talk about black history in this country without talking about slavery or the civil rights movement,” she stated. “I’m angry and part of me feels like we failed our students. We want to see what we can do to assist them, and make their school a safe place.”