YORK COUNTY, Va. (WAVY) — A 13-year-old boy from York County is facing a difficult lesson at school.
Za’Khari Waddy and his mother, Zettrona Powell, said he is constantly bullied and called racist slurs by other middle school students. His mother said she had to pressure the school for something to be done.
Now his story is in the national spotlight. The New York Daily News published an open and detailed letter he wrote to the school.
“He doesn’t even think about it before he says it,” Waddy told WAVY.com on Friday.
“There’s no reason for him to be saying things about me because of my skin color,” he said.
Waddy is an 8th grader at Tabb Middle School in Yorktown. Powell said he had racial slurs directed at him since the 5th grade.
Powell said the situation reached a boiling point on October 27. Waddy was on the bus with the rest of the Tabb M.S. football team.
“The kid that said it said, ‘I have a confederate flag in my room so Za’Khari can’t come near my house,’” Waddy recalled. “And after he said that, that’s when he said my ancestors hang from a tree 200 years ago.”
According to Waddy, the student then told him he should also “be hung from a tree.”
Waddy explained he ignored the students remarks, but the slurs continued. He said his coaches later told him to ignore the student causing the problems.
Powell told Waddy to write down what happened and share it with his principal.
“My mom tells me to use my words, not my fist,” said Waddy.
According to Powell, the student was suspended for one day after pressure from her. She has made numerous phone calls and the response from the school division has been that the situation has been handled. Powell says that’s not enough.
“What I’m not going to do is tolerate them treating him like he’s less than a person,” said Powell. “He doesn’t deserve it.”
The York County School Division has released a statement saying the allegations are deeply concerning. The division’s statement on Facebook says they have taken, “immediate steps to investigate the report, and that appropriate disciplinary actions were taken.”
The York County School Division posted a statement on the incident to their Facebook page.
Powell tells me she wants to have a meeting with school administrators, the children and all the parents involved. She added, a larger conversation on racism needs to happen if they’re going to be able to move past this.
