White Texas High Schoolers Disciplined For Holding Slave Auction On Snapchat

A group of white students at a Texas high school have been disciplined for cyberbullying their Black classmates and holding a fake slave auction online.

The students, who attend the Aledo Independent School District’s Daniel Ninth Grade Campus, cyberbullied and harassed students based on their race according to school Superintendent Dr. Susan Bohn. The district did not reveal specifics about the incident.

However, according to the Star-Telegram, local activists told them a group of students set up a slave auction. A screenshot that has been widely shared on social media showed a Snapchat group with various names including “Slave Trade” and “N-word Auction.” One person in the group typed they would spend $1 on a student, while another said they would spend $100 on a student.

ICYMI: Outrage after Texas students hold ‘slave auction’ for Black classmates on social media. > https://t.co/sekYt6m9Bu #F2FA #africa #panafrican #diaspora pic.twitter.com/HJJ4c0DgcW

— Face2face Africa (@Face2faceAFRICA) April 15, 2021

Eddie Burnett, president of the Parker County NAACP, told the Star-Telegram he learned about the situation Sunday and plans to bring it up at a school board meeting set for April 19.

The school district said the students were disciplined for cyberbullying and their actions but did not specify what the discipline was.

“There is no room for racism or hatred in the Aledo ISD, period,” Bohn said in the statement. “Using inappropriate, offensive and racially charged language and conduct is completely unacceptable and is prohibited by district policy.”

The cyberbullying incident comes as former police officer Derek Chauvin sits on trial for the death of George Floyd. Less than 15 miles away from where that trial is being held, Daunte Wright was shot and killed last weekend by an officer who allegedly meant to use her taser and instead pulled out her gun and shot Wright.

Cyberbullying, where students are harassed on social media platforms as well as in-person, has also increased in recent years. One example is Mallory Rose Grossman, a sixth-grader who hung herself in 2017 after almost a year of being cyberbullied by classmates.

According to the Pew Research Center, one-third of teens online have experienced cyberbullying and females experience cyberbullying more than males.