‘Just Kind of Shrug Their Shoulders’: White Football Players Who Allegedly Wrote Slur On Black Teen’s Car Benched from Team In High School Where Parents Say Racism Is ‘Normal’

A Michigan high school roiled by racist hate speech over the past four years is facing another episode after white students allegedly drew Ku Klux Klan and Nazi symbols on minority students’ vehicles.The latest incident occurred at the end of the school day at Saline High School on Sept. 13, according to the superintendent of Saline Area Schools, Stephen Laatsch, who issued a statement to district families the next day saying he was “deeply saddened and outraged” by “incidents involving hate speech” at the school. “Racism, in any form, has no place in our community, and we are committed to addressing this with the seriousness it deserves,” he said.Laatsch said the investigation was still ongoing but that administrators had “reached out to victim families and were able to identify students suspected to be involved.” A parent talks about racism at a Saline High School at a community meeting in Saline, Michigan. (Photo: YouTube screenshot/WXYZ-TV)He said the consequences of hate speech acts, as defined in the student handbook, include “a three-pronged approach to intervention” that includes “discipline, education, and restorative practices.” Discipline could include detention, suspension, or expulsion.Acknowledging that “incidents like this often have a ripple effect throughout our school and...