Six white high school students come under fire for sharing picture of them standing on black student

A group of high school students from Alabama have sparked outrage after they shared pictures of themselves on social media standing on a black student wearing cowboy boots and flannels.

Students from Moody High School, Alabama, apologised for taking the offensive photograph, which showed six white male students wearing cowboy boots standing on a black student who was face down, with the caption:

We got us one.

After it was posted to Snapchat, the photo quickly went viral, with many people voicing their disgust at the photograph.

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***Swipe*** This is from Moody High School in Moody Alabama. Every Friday during football season the students dress up, I guess as a spirit thing to excite the students. This past Friday was “Redneck Day.” Why you’d have a redneck day in 2018, is beyond me, but I’ll let that go for now. This photo is circulating with the students. One of those students (who shall remain nameless) happens to be a follower of mine and sent this to me. I sent it to the main office at the school, to the PTO and I’ve tagged several local news stations in Alabama. If you swipe through, you’ll see parents defending their kids who are in this photo, which I find disgusting. “This photo will follow them around forever!” “It was the black kid’s idea!” “My son is not a racist!” Ummm, I hate to break it to you cupcake, but everything about this photo is racist. And I don’t care if “the black kid” suggested it, why would anyone agree to stand with their foot on another human, with that kind of caption?!? Even in Alabama, which has a reputation for such things, as does my home state, this isn’t okay. The not racist thing to do is to stop defending your own offspring and concern yourself with what this type of behavior does to the other students of color who see it, or to their younger siblings and parents. I think they certainly deserve better than this.,Any school should drop the hammer on things like this AND redneck day! It’s 2018! Your vice principal is a black woman! Do the right thing and let this be a learning experience for these kids AND their parents! This should not be tolerated in and form, in ANY state! I’m in Tennessee and I see many trashy racist things but if this happened at my kids schools, I would be all up in their business until this was handled. Every kid in that photo should, at the very least, be suspended. It’s a learning experience @moodyhighschool Don’t pass it up. You have a responsibility here. The rest of your students and their parents are waiting..... @moodyspanishclub @moodydevilsden @mhs.seniorcouncil2019 @moodyfca @mhsmajos @moodyhscheer

A post shared by AGirlHasNoPresident (@agirlhasnopresident) on Sep 17, 2018 at 10:06am PDT

This is moody highschool. All I can say is that this is disgusting. joke or not. Y’all claim not to be racist but what does redneck day have anything to do with standing on a black boy? Shit lame asf. And not funny. At all. pic.twitter.com/Z7eWjtzhZT

— Cassssss (@cassidylew7) September 16, 2018

The students were dressed up for the day for a themed event, to dress as a destination, with some dressing as if they were from New Orleans, Hollywood, Hawaii and Dallas. The white students in the photograph represent ‘Dallas’, because of wearing flannels and boots, reports the Daily Mail.

However, issuing a statement, Moody High School principle Christopher Walters was keen to emphasise that the photograph was ‘a joke’, and that all the people featured in the photograph were friends and consensually involved.

Speaking to AL.com, he said:

We have confirmed that all students involved are friends and participated voluntarily in creating the picture, which they say was intended to be a ‘joke’.

The picture is offensive and unacceptable, and it does not reflect the values of our school, our students, or our community.

Jennifer Kellum, one of the student’s mothers, told CBS 42:

They really were making fun of racist people.

Ms Kellum’s son, Austin Glass, was one of the students photographed with his foot on the other student. In response, he told the local news site:

If I could go back, I wouldn’t have took the picture. I probably wouldn’t have even dressed up for that day.

Nick Fuller, the black student who appeared in the seemingly racist photograph, also apologised for the role he played:

I’m thinking about it now, but I didn’t think about it when we first took the photos. I’d still like to say sorry again for anyone I offended.

Speaking to Teen Vogue, the school’s superintendent Jenny Seals also issued a statement regards the incident:

I understand that all students involved are friends and participated voluntarily in creating the picture, which they say was intended to be a ‘joke.

Obviously, there’s nothing funny about the picture.

It is offensive and unacceptable, and it does not reflect the values of Moody High School, the St. Clair County School System, or our community.

All students involved will be disciplined appropriately.

We will continue to educate our students on the values of dignity, equality, and decency and on the importance of making good decisions in life.