Bexley student organizes protest response to racist image
BEXLEY, Ohio (WCMH) – One of the Bexley Middle School students who organized a walkout Friday, one week after a racist image was broadcast on the school’s morning announcements, said she was hurt by seeing the image.
Seventh-grader Damiah Milner said she and her friend were the ones who came up with the idea for Friday’s protest.
The image, showing an orangutan with a watermelon, was shown at Bexley Middle School on Feb. 3 during the morning announcements.
After talking for a few days about what had happened, Milner was ready to take some kind of action, with the protest coming together in only a matter of hours.
"At the end, I was getting emotional because I didn't think everybody was going to come, especially with me being a middle schooler,” Milner said. “I had the high schoolers there too, and I was just overwhelmed. It was just amazing to know that everybody was there to support and really cares.”
The protest lasted for approximately one hour Friday afternoon.
The Bexley School District announced Friday that the teacher who supervised the morning announcements for the school resigned. The district has not identified the former teacher.
The teacher's resignation happened just days after district parents expressed their frustration at the situation to the Bexley school board during a regularly scheduled meeting Wednesday.
“We have kids now coming to school hurt, they’re crying, they’re confused, and you expect them to do well in the classroom after this?” said 20-year Bexley resident Carl Woodford outside the meeting.
The board is set to vote on the teacher's resignation during a public meeting Tuesday. There will be no public comment allowed at the meeting.