A Tennessee family fell victim to racist terrorism that culminated in their teen son being hospitalized and left all of them living in fear, despite repeated warnings that something might happen. But what’s making the situation even worse is how the school reacted to the entire ordeal, and people are outraged as a result.
Millington Central high School student Ethan Humphrey has been the victim of repeated racially motivated attacks from other students at the school, according to WBTV. It all started after his refusal to play football with some neighborhood kids after school one day, and it ended with him becoming the victim of a horrific hate crime inside a classroom on Friday. Now, his family is living in fear after the way it was handled.
“He told him you better watch your back,” Humphrey’s mother recalled, speaking of the boy who would later beat up her son, “which has also been said in front of my home.”
On Friday, a student approached Ethan in Geography class, then proceeded to beat the living hell out of him in front of everyone. Ethan suffered a broken collarbone and a concussion after being punched in the back of the head twice. He was grabbed and thrown repeatedly into a desk and then the floor, but his mother said it’s not the first issue he’s had.
The week prior, a group of six students approached Ethan and asked him to play football, but he declined. Words were exchanged. Apparently, Ethan ended up repeating what one of the other teens said, and said “My n—- have my back too.” That set off the group, and according to WREG, they beat him then too.
Ethan’s mother said that police told him he needed to fight back, but Ethan said he refused due to the horrible school policy that would have gotten him thrown off the football team. Police promised to notify the school, but it never happened. Then, when the student beat Ethan in the classroom, he wasn’t even properly treated.
His mother said that he was placed in a wheelchair, but that was the extent of the care he received. She said that no ambulance was called, and he didn’t get to see the school nurse either.
“Its very disturbing,” she said. “I just want to pack stuff up and go.”
As if the school’s lack of meaningful action wasn’t bad enough, when WREG approached Superintendent Dr. David Roper, he became angered after being asked about the racial nature of the attack. At first he questioned why the news outlet was there, then he outright refused to answer any questions on camera, refused to confirm any incidents at the school, and denied that any of the allegations made on social media were true. Needless to say, parents aren’t happy in the least about how the school handled the hate crime.
“That’s atrocious, I’ve never heard of such a thing. It is unthought of, unthinkable, for a child to do that to another child,” said Gloria Hall.
Ethan is now out of the hospital and recovering at home. But he won’t be playing football anytime soon, and his family doesn’t feel safe in their own neighborhood.
“I can’t go out of my own home,” his mother said. “I feel like I need to be protected or armed. I feel unsafe. My kids feel unsafe. My son doesn’t want to go back to school.”
It’s incredible to me that the school is seemingly disregarding what appears to be an apparent race-based crime, and instead, appears to be sweeping it under the rug. You and I all know that if the situation was reversed, there would be a national outcry, protests, and outrage for weeks that the school ignored a hate crime, so why isn’t Ethan getting the same?
Once again, we can’t continue to excuse the actions of certain people and expect anything to change, and it appears as if this is being dismissed by all involved, except of course, the victims. I think Ethan’s mother needs to find a good attorney, then ensure that some fresh equality is served to both the school and the little thugs-in-training who were responsible for her son’s injuries.