A Catholic school student in Richmond, Va will face disciplinary action after posting a Snapchat that was racist in nature. WTVR Richmond spoke to the head of school who in an email to parents and students, called the widely shared pic “deeply troubling” and “racially insensitive.”
The photo in question depicts what appears to be a female student in a green, St. Gertrude’s High School (SGHS) logo top, holding a brown complexion mask over her face. The text below the image says “N–a”. According to reports, the photo was shared over a thousand times.
“To have something this disrespectful happen is shocking. I know I was shocked when I saw it,” St. Gertrude High Head of School Sister Cecilia Dwyer told WTVR. “We are trying to get to the bottom of how it happened and how it evolved.”
Though school administrators seem surprised by the actions, an alleged former student took to social media after the news broke, to share that racist behavior at the catholic school is not uncommon. Twitter user @akosua_yaasmeen wrote, “Ok sooo St. Gertrude High School in Richmond Va, how are y’all going to handle this?? You didn’t do anything when I was a student and I had threatening and outright racist mail sent to my house. Learn from your mistakes and punish this girl properly. @SaintGertrudeVA.”
Others on social media shared the young woman’s sentiments with one woman saying that her daughter attended the all-girl Catholic school and they have a history of sweeping situations like this under the rug.
St. Gertrude administrators say they know who was involved in the posting of the racist and offensive photo but did not clarify what actions would be taken against the students. They’ve also asked that the St. Gertrude community work together to “promote an inclusive and nurturing environment” in wake of the incident.