A 9-year-old in US confronts school board over BLM posters, says 'no politics in school'

A nine-year-old student in US slammed that school board over its apparent turn on a policy barring teachers from displaying Black Lives Matter (BLM) posters on the premises. The girl, who only identified herself as "Novalee” said that she saw BLM poster and those of Amanda Gorman on her teacher’s wall in Lakeville Elementary School. Further, she argued that the display of the posters contradicted what the school board said at a prior meeting- "no politics in school." A video of her speaking at a school board meeting recently surfaced online and is now doing rounds of the internet.

'No politics' 

“I look up over the wall and find a BLM poster. I was told at this very spot No politics,” she could be heard saying in the video. She went on to say that the time had already come when people were not recognised by the “colour of their skin but the content of their character”. Citing her own example, she said, “I do not care or look at the color of people’s skin but you make me think like that. I have Asian, Mexican, White, Chinese, Black friends and I don’t care. I like them because some of them make me laugh, some are sweet and kind, sporty or share the love of God,  they are just my friends”.

In her speech, she also called out the school principal who refused to bring down the posters. Lambasting the Lakeville Elementary school board, she said “You’ve lied to me and I am very disappointed of all of you. You cannot follow your own rules” she asserted. 

This comes as the US, on May 25, marked one year of George Floyd’s killing, a tragedy that triggered the Black Lives Matter. The Minneapolis Black man had succumbed on May 25, 2020, due to a knee chokehold after former Minneapolis white police officer Derek Chauvin sat on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes, despite his repeated requests that he “can’t breathe.” George Floyd’s death had sparked protests across the United States against Police brutality and systemic racism. Citizens demanded police reforms and justice for Floyd as they held the popular Black Lives Matter movement. 

IMAGE: Twitter/Oguguasupremacy/Unsplash