Hundreds of Fox Chapel students and alumni are calling on their school district to more aggressively address racial injustice in the district as Black Lives Matter protests have sprung up across the country, including the Pittsburgh region.
These calls for justice and reforms are emerging as the district is conducting an investigation into offensive photos and racist videos posted on a student’s Instagram account with racial epithets.
Bonnie Berzonski, a district spokesperson, acknowledged that officials had seen videos with racial epithets and said the district is following district policies and the law but “will not comment on specific student matters.”
For William Generett, a graduating senior and president of the Black Student Union, the videos provided tangible evidence of the attitudes he has long complained about witnessing in the district.
More than 800 students’ and alumni’s names were included on an open-petition created on June 4 calling on the district to make more public the support for Black Lives Matter and to execute sweeping changes at a time when anti-racism protests are happening across the country.