The mother of a boy who was called anti-Asian names by a middle schooler, and other parents, called on Virginia’s Loudoun County Public Schools to fight racism.
Video of the incident was posted online at the behest of the victim’s family last month by AsAmNews. The victim, Ethan, a 5-year-old of Chinese-American heritage, was told to “go eat your dumplings.”
Ethan can be heard on video fearfully pleading, “No, don’t hurt me, don’t hurt me,” as he ran to his family’s house.
At Tuesday’s board meeting, his mother, Ashley Long, called for action.
“I believe all board members have seen the video. … I’m here to ask: What are you going to do to make sure this never happens again? Not to Ethan, not to any child in LCPS, because if there are no consequences, if there’s no clear policy to protect the children from racial harm, then how can we trust this school district to keep our kids safe?” she said.
Other parents also spoke out, reiterating Ms. Long’s stand, though they did not specify whether they wanted the middle schooler making the slur to be disciplined in some way.
LCPS official Dan Adams told AsAmNews that, since the incident took place away from school property and over the weekend, the district’s options for further action are limited.
LCPS Superintendent Aaron Spence previously responded to the incident in a April 29 letter to the wider school community, writing that “although this occurred outside of school hours and off school grounds, it has deeply impacted our community and raised important questions about who we are and what we stand for. Let me be clear: Hate speech and racial slurs have no place in our schools or in our community.”
Mr. Spence also said that “we have been made aware of threats directed at the student who made the offensive comments and threats directed at the school, including its staff. Retaliatory bullying, intimidation or threats, whether in response to this or any other situation, are unacceptable and will not be tolerated.”
The superintendent did not name the middle schooler or say which school was subjected to threats over the incident.
School officials have engaged with the families of both children involved and offered mental health support. Mediation between the two parties was also offered.
The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office is also investigating the incident, the agency told WTOP-FM.
Correction: A previous version of this article contained misspellings of Loudoun County.
