Heartbroken mother speaks out
Social media post contained racial slur
DRESDEN – A Columbus mother is heartbroken after reading the words written on a viral social media post traced back to teenagers in Muskingum County.
What was supposed to be a fun day spent with family at a pumpkin patch in Licking County left a memory that was never part of the plan for Shaunice Brown.
Two teenagers identified as Tri-valley High School students had taken a photo together. Brown’s 7-year-old daughter, Taniy’jah Walker, appeared in the background.
“I know that she was just minding her own business playing. Probably walking past or running past,” Brown said.
The individual who posted the photo on Instagram wrote that the secondgrader in the background ruined the picture and used a racial slur when referring to her. More racist remarks were written in the comments by another teen identified as a Mid-east Career and Technology Center student.
Tri-valley superintendent Mark Neal said the district discussed the matter with attorneys and learned no legal actions can be taken.
“We don’t have the authority to investigate social media. We reported it to the police. It’s cruel, it’s insensitive, it’s ignorant, to be honest with you,” Neal said. “I guess this is a common problem right now is everyone is looking to the school for solutions, but I can assure you they didn’t learn those terms at school. Those come from home.”
The TR left Facebook messages asking the teens if they or their parents wished to comment.
A screenshot of the post was shared across Facebook thousands of times, condemning the act. Eventually the 7year-old was identified by a family who came across one of the posts.
“I cried because I just couldn’t understand like how someone would have so much hate in their heart, even for a little girl. Because it’s easy to crop a photo. So she could have easily been cropped out. I just don’t understand, “Brown said. “And then to post it. You could have cropped her out, but seeing that you didn’t, I feel like they wanted attention. They wanted this to spark.”
The post caught the attention of thousands speaking up to defend the young girl from the hateful comments.
“So many people have been contacting me on Facebook that I don’t know. So many people have been writing me and sharing my daughter’s post,” Brown said. “It makes me feel good that they’re speaking up and standing up.”
Law enforcement is aware of the post, but no action can be taken.
“It doesn’t appear to be any kind of criminal charge that can be filed because this was on an Instagram post back and forth. It was never said to anybody directly,” Muskingum County Sheriff Lutz said.
The mother of one of the teens involved in the post filed a complaint with
Frazeysburg Police due to the threats the family has received as part of backlash from the post.
Neal said the Tri-valley district has counselors available for students who were upset by the remarks in the post, however, he added that the two students involved are remote learners.
“You can’t certainly take that (free speech) right away, but at the same time you have people that make comments like that. It’s sad, I guess, in this day and age that people still think that’s OK,” Neal said.
Brown has been using her voice on social media to send a message that what was done to her daughter cannot be tolerated.
“It’s not OK that she was even targeted, “Brown said. “It’s not OK that anyone is even targeted.”
Brown said she knows racism exists, but she’s never seen it happen so openly and so close to home.
“This is something that I will forever think about. It’s not like I’m trying to humiliate them, but they’ve really broken my heart with this,” Brown said.
Brown wants to protect her daughter from the posts, but knows there is a chance that when she gets older, her daughter will see what was said about her.
“She would have cried. She would have been hurt. People take their lives from stuff like this, Brown said. “I just kind of thank God that right now she doesn’t know, and if she does get older and finds out about it, I’ll do my best to explain to her like, you know, no matter what people say, you are the bomb.”
The mother wants to ensure her daughter is never discouraged by what was said about her and wants her to know that she is not defined by those words.
“I would define her as smart, outgoing. She’s very energetic. She’s very cheerful,” Brown said. “Any kid around her would want to be with her.”
For the students in the photo, Neal said they will also have to live with what they said and the reaction they received on social media.
“We’ve created a forum for people to say stupid things and get stupid responses, and it’s kind of sad because these are still kids and kids make mistakes and now there’s a permanent record of their mistakes,” Neal said.