Upon transferring to Palisades Charter High School in January, 15-year-old Aina Adewunmi befriended a group of teenage boys. The friendship didn’t last long when Aina said she heard them using racial slurs.
“They added me to their group chat and then started using the N-word,” Aina told The New York Daily News “I said they can’t use the word, and that’s when I thought I set the boundary.”
Continuous racist remarks from one student in particular forced Aina to sever ties with the group. “I told him I didn’t want to be in his presence anymore and I said, ‘I don’t want to be associated with you,’ ” she recalled.
However, it didn’t take long for Aina to discover a photo of herself in a noose that was shared in the group chat. The high school sophomore quickly informed administrators. “I was like, ‘Oh my god, it’s me being lynched,’” she said.
Officials from the Southern California high school suspended the boys until the end of the term, but Aina and her mother think the punishment is a slap on the wrist.
“We asked the students to be expelled and the school is not going to expel them — which is saddening because it means they tolerate this behavior,” Aina’s mother Tina said.
Aina said the school did honor her request to not be in a class with the boys again.