MANCHESTER, N.H. (WHDH) - A homecoming proposal containing racist mockery has led to sports activities at one New Hampshire school being canceled for the weekend as officials respond.
A student athlete at Trinity High School in Manchester, New Hampshire, is accused of using a racist message to ask a girl to the school dance. A photo of the proposal reportedly spread on social media, drawing outrage and spurning school leaders to cancel the school’s sporting activities for at least the following weekend.
Administrators at the Catholic high school said they were notified this week about the proposal. By Friday afternoon, the school’s president, Nathan Stanton, notified student families that threats of violence were being made against the school from outside of the community.
He said the school has since been working with Manchester Police to investigate the matter and that, out of an abundance of caution, all athletic events scheduled for the weekend, including a football game on Friday, were cancelled.
“We believe, and we teach, that each person is created in the image and likeness of God and therefore has inherent dignity and value,” Stanton said in a statement condemning the photo. “Racial mockery or acts of racism are at odds with those beliefs and are absolutely unacceptable.”
Community advocates, meanwhile, said the school needs to do more to address what happened. Manchester Black Lives Matter advocates posted the racist photo on social media, encouraging people to contact school leaders with their concerns.
In a statement, the group said:
“We are disappointed by the racist homecoming proposal made by a student at Trinity High School. Further, we want to express our support for Black students at Trinity who say that they regularly experience racism at their school.”
Some in the community said it was a shame that the actions of one student were affecting the entire student body.
“I think the world is full of chaos right now and I don’t think the kids should all have to suffer because of one kid’s actions,” said Ricky Menczywor, a local reacting to the photo.
The school president has not said what kind of punishment the student athlete behind the proposal is facing, citing privacy concerns, but noted that the kind of behavior at the center of the incident would not be tolerated.
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