Chester Co. Schools take action after racist videos made by some students circulate on social media

CHESTER COUNTY, S.C. — A series of videos created by some Lewisville High School students has sparked a conversation about race.

This comes after several students posted videos to social media that contained racial slurs and profanity.

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“I was pretty shocked, because if you go the school. None of the students are really like this. All of us are friendly. So when I seen the video, I was like wow,” said Demetrius Hills, Senior Vice President of Student Council.

Students said it has a powerful impact, but Hills said teachers and administrators of every race worked quickly to overcome the anger.

“Staff and teachers were on top of it. They went to students, checking on students,” Hills said. “Since they showed that they cared, it showed a lot to the students. A lot of students were angry. It went away because they now see that the teachers care about what’s going on.”

Chester County School Superintendent Dr. Antown Sutton has now come up with a plan to improve race relations at the high school.

“I heard from students and parents as well. They were disappointed and embarrassed that this happened in our school district,” he said.

The superintendent’s plan to improve race relations in schools, includes professional development sessions on diversity, inclusion and unconscious bias training. They will also have table talk sessions with students and staff to discuss issues.

Some students said talks about race issues have already begun.

“People are more thoughtful about what they say,” said Dajah White, Sophomore President Student Council.