An Alabama 9-year-old girl took her own life on Monday night, leaving her family in shock. According to the family of McKenzie Adams, the 9-year-old’s suicide comes after she put up with racist bullying and taunts by a group of classmates since the beginning of the year.
The Tuscaloosa News reports that McKenzie’s grandmother found the child dead in their Linden, Ala., home. Now instead of looking forward to Christmas, the family is now planning her funeral.
“It’s an emotional roller-coaster,” McKenzie’s Eddwina Harris, who is a television host in Atlanta, told the news station.
Harris is planning to use her platform to help the fight against bullying.
According to the report, after McKenzie transferred to U.S. Jones Elementary School, her mother and grandmother raised their concerns to the State Board of Education about the ruthless bullying the 9-year-old faced. She endured cruel taunts due to her friendship with a boy.
“She was being bullied the entire school year, with words such as ‘kill yourself,’ ‘you think you’re white because you ride with that white boy,’ ‘you ugly,’ ‘black b-tch,’ ‘just die’,” Harris said.
Harris described her niece as a bright and outgoing girl who loved math and science and wanted to be a scientist.
“God has blessed me to help others with my platform, and now it’s time to help. There are so many voiceless kids,” she said. “God is opening great doors for justice for my niece.”
