Two Black brothers from Oklahoma were removed from their elementary school classroom and isolated from students because they wore Black Lives Matter shirts.
Ben Stapleton, 8, and his 5-year-old brother spent their entire day at school in the principal’s office at an Ardmore elementary school, Complex News reported.
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A week before this incident, Jordan Herbert, their mother, was suspicious about why her elder son’s BLM shirt was inside out. She was told the physical education teacher forced Ben to do so in order to participate in class.
“Y’all know he knows nothing about politics or his rights, so y’all make him turn it inside out because you don’t like it,” Herbert said.
Certain the school would make the same attempt, Herbert sent all three of her children into school with BLM shirts.
Two of them were placed in in-school suspension, both of them missed recess, had lunch away from their friends, and Ben missed his weekly tutoring.
The shirts themselves did not violate any dress codes, but Superintendent Kim Holland is against politically charged shirts.
“I understand
what she is saying, but school is not the place to have all that, y’know political back and forth and upheaval,” Holland said while explaining that it’s normal for teachers to remove students over inappropriate shirts. “We’re trying to be more neutral in the school and be advocates for all of our children in what they need.”“Allow my kid to express how his life matters, that’s it, that’s all,” Herbert responded.
The city of Ardmore, according to Area Vibes, has a white population that makes up 67 percent. On the other hand, Black people make up about 10 percent.
Ardmore is also a very Red city as well, according to Data USA, showing that 72 percent of the voting population favored former President Donald Trump in 2016 election.