The horrific moment when a white high school student rained down blows on a black student was caught on video, with the administration's reaction prompting a mass walkout from classes on Monday.
The clips, first published by The Kansas City Defender, a black student can be seen talking with two white girls as she alleges that one of them called her a 'slave.'
It occurred at Shawnee Mission East High School, just south of Kansas City, close to the Missouri border earlier this month. Both students are sophomores.
The white students walk away with the black student calling them to continue the argument.
At that point, a male student, who was not involved in the original conversation, can be heard saying: 'Man shut the f**k up!' The black student turns around and yells down the hall: 'Who said that!?'
At the beginning of the fight, the white student can be seen marching towards the female student and using the N-word repeatedly
The two begin striking each other as he continues to use a racial slur
Despite being at a size disadvantage, the female student fights back against her attacker
The brawl continues up through the hallway of the school
The gathered students tell the teachers that the white student struck first
The male student storms towards the girl, throws his bag to the floor, and physically attacks the black student by shoving her. Despite being at a size disadvantage, the black student continues to fight back against the assault.
'He said n****r! He said n****r!,' the person filming the altercation says repeatedly.
The attack comes to an end when a teacher appears and manhandles the male student, separating the pair.
The gathered students tell the teachers that the white student struck first.
The female student was hospitalized with a broken nose, reports The Kansas City Star.
The newspaper later reported that on Monday, a mass walkout occurred at the school with students apparently furious that the female student was suspended for five days for her role in getting beaten up.
'We demand action! Protect students of color!,' read one sign. 'We don' feel safe' and 'Take action now,' read others. Chants included: 'We want change,' 'Have our backs,' and 'How many more times.'
The newspaper reports that protesters are demanding stronger punishments for the use of racial slurs in schools.
A school district spokesperson told the Star that their office takes 'incidents of racism and physical violence very seriously. We do have a code of conduct in place, and we follow our policies and procedures.'
The white student was also suspended for attacking the student.
The Defender, citing students' accounts, said that there have been other incidents at the school, including one where the principal called black students 'intimidating' and saying that they look like they might 'jump someone.'
One senior, Charlize Littlejohn, told the Star that racism is 'ongoing' at the school.
'There are multiple situations that have happened over and over again. I think we’re all just really tired of trying to get change and it just not happening. We’re just exhausted. Trying to go to class, it really affects us,' Littlejohn said.
The female student was hospitalized with a broken nose, reports The Kansas City Star
According to US News & World Report, 82 percent of students at Shawnee East are white while 1.6 percent are black. Just over five percent identify as mixed race
Littlejohn said that the victim of the attack did not attend the protest on Monday but she drove past and waved at her classmates.
Speaking about the suspension of the white student, Littlejohn said: 'There was no follow-up, no email was sent, and no announcement was made. It was not recognized.'
'We were all there. We all watched it. It was emotional and it was traumatizing. I want things to change. Everybody who was there watching it, they’re not going to feel safe. I’m not going to feel safe in class.'
'Because that could have been anybody. He could have done it to anybody. And I think that’s just scary something like that can happen inside of a school,' she added.
According to US News & World Report, 82 percent of students at Shawnee East are white while 1.6 percent are black. Just over five percent identify as mixed race.
In total, there is a minority enrollment of 18 percent. It is ranked at the second best high school in the state in terms of performance in state-required tests.
A former teacher, David Muhammad, also spoke about the incident, to the Star, saying that students felt 'vulnerable' at the school.
'People don’t talk about this stuff because they don’t feel equipped to have a conversation. The reality is you have these students who are looking to teachers and administrators to be the educated ones in the room to guide them in these situations.'
'They’re in a vulnerable state. You can’t fix that just by saying we have a mission that everyone belongs here and we expect people to carry themselves in a certain way. It doesn’t work. There has to be a commitment to figuring out what’s really going on,' he said.
In 2021, a video of Muhammad hosting a discussion among students at the school about the merits of the confederate flag went viral.