‘The Student Responsible Is Not White’: Black High School Student Admits Responsibility For Racist Graffiti

A black student admitted responsibility for racist graffiti that prompted a Sept. 23 walkout by over 1,000 students in a Missouri high school, administrators told St. Louis-area media outlets.

“The student responsible is not white, however, this does not diminish the hurt it caused or the negative impact it has had on our entire community,” Dr. Keith Marty, superintendent of the Parkway School District wrote in a Sept. 28 letter to parents.

The graffiti in Parkway Central High School, which included anti-black slurs, prompted a walkout by students at multiple schools across the school district located in Chesterfield, Missouri, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

“I want to acknowledge the actions our students took as a result of these incidents. Students proactively led walkouts at multiple Parkway high schools and in these moments, many students shared personal experiences of racism throughout their lives and at school,” Marty said in the Sept. 28 letter which revealed identity of the apparent hoax. “Their voice was a clear indication that more work is needed to ensure our school cultures and communities are safe for each student regardless of their race.”

Parkway School District officials are investigating racist graffiti in another high school, Parkway North, the Post-Dispatch reported.

Other incidents of racist graffiti have later proven to be hoaxes. In 2017, a similar incident of graffiti with a racial slur was discovered to have been perpetrated by a non-white student, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

In August, racist graffiti and swastikas were found at an autism center in Emory University in Atlanta. The alleged perpetrator was a black janitor who worked at the facility, the Daily Wire reported.

Three individuals, one of them black, faced charges involving racist graffiti on the outside of various schools in Kirkwood in January, according to the Post-Dispatch.