3 black kids are new to a school district that is 96% white. The kids play basketball and look up to players like LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony who routinely throw up the “3 Point” sign after hitting a trey.
The kids aren’t aren’t criminals and are just emulating what they see on ESPN and TNT when they watch the ball game.
So, what happens?
They are accused of being in a gang.
“I did it like every other kid does it when they make a 3,” said Sheboygan Falls Senior, Jordan Jackson.
The Sheboygan Falls News took a couple pictures of Jordan, Jamal and Juwaun Jackson for a story about the brothers moving to the district. They took one serious pic, and a goofy pic. The goofy picture ran. It’s the brothers’ pose that got them in trouble.
“When you make a three, everyone does this sign. You’ve probably seen LeBron James or someone do it. I did the three in the picture, and my little brother pointed at the camera,”
The Sheboygan Falls Superintendent would not go on-camera but says parents complained it looked like gang symbols. The school even asked the police department to look into the signs.
Jordan Jackson says he did not know it could be considered a gang symbol, “I had no idea. They told us it meant blood.”
That is just ignorant, by all accounts these are good kids and shouldn’t be suspended at all. Racism and ignorance is often passed down from generation to generation, so my advice if you are a parent don’t put your ignorance and prejudices on your kids like these Wisconsin parents.
H/T Big Lead