Headline after headline will show you that racism is alive and well in the U.S. today, and not just from perpetrators who were born during generations where it was still accepted. This time, it’s nine-year-old students whose racist bullying of a peer has led her to speak out.
Nasir Andrews, a fourth grader from Bellevue, Washington has an important message for those who have bullied her, as well as those who have turned a blind eye to the racism that they’ve watched her undergo every day.
In a video posted to Facebook, Nasir details the bullying she has fallen victim to at Ardmore Elementary using handwritten notecards. The trauma includes having her snacks taken away, being told to ‘die’, and being pushed, kicked, and choked. In the video she writes, “as one of about 8 black kids at my school, I never felt included, liked, or respected…bullying is real, it hurts, and I want help for myself and other kids.” Nasir also details the times when she reached out for help from the administration and received none. The result is poignant and inspiring:
The details of the bullying have shocked viewers, who struggle to understand how young children in 2017 can still have such backward racial views. “A student called me ‘Nutella’ and I told my after-school teacher and she said it wasn’t racist and she made me write the definition of racist,” Nasir told KIRO-7. “Everybody in my class does not like me,” she continued, “and I don’t have any friends in my class or in the other fourth grade classes.”Nasir’s parents, Chantey and Travis Andrews, got her a lunchbox after she was bullied for buying lunch and began driving her to school after she told them she was being teased on the bus. “With so many things happening, our fear is there is a culture that has been established at the school where it is almost OK for the children to exercise different forms of treatment and bullying and harassment,” said Chantey, “and there’s not a conversation being had with them saying, ‘No, this is unacceptable.’”
Getting over 4.3 million views, the heartbreaking video has garnered tremendous amounts of support from Facebook commenters. Many people are shocked that this form of bullying still goes on, and even more believe the school should be held accountable for these altercations.
Extending even beyond words of support, a Public Safety Officer at a local university named Ricardo Bland reached out to Nasir to help. He offered to accompany her to her first day of school, making sure she would not be bullied. Upon finding out when her first day was, Bland said he was off that day and would happily go with her, offering to give the family his personal information so they can be in contact. However, the family is currently deciding whether or not to have Nasir change schools.
