In a sense, Ms. Groves’ public shame underscores the power of social media to hold people of all ages accountable, with consequences sometimes including harassment and “cancellation” both online and in the real world. But the story behind the reaction also reveals a more complex picture of behavior that has not been seen in schools in one of the country’s richest counties for generations, where black students said they had long been subjected to ridicule. “Go and get cotton,” said some who heard it in the class of white students.
“It was always very uncomfortable to be black in the classroom,” said Muna Barry, a black student who graduated with Groves and Galligan. Once, during Black History Month, she remembered, gym teachers at her elementary school organized an “Underground Railroad” game, where students were instructed to navigate an obstacle course in the dark. They had to start over if they made a noise.
The use of insult by a student at Heritage High School was not shocking, many said. The surprise, instead, was that Mrs. Groves was being punished for behavior that had long been tolerated.
A ‘hostile learning environment’
Leesburg, the seat of Loudoun County, is across the Potomac River from Maryland, about an hour’s drive from Washington. It was the site of a battle at the start of the Civil War, and slave auctions have already been held in court, where a statue of a Confederate soldier stayed for more than a century until it was removed in July.
The suburbs of Loudoun County are among the richest in the country and schools are always ranked among the best in the state. Last fall, according to the Virginia Department of Education, Heritage High’s student body was about half white, 20% Hispanic, 14% Asian American and 8% black, with another 6% mixed race.
In interviews, current and former black students described an environment fraught with racial insensitivity, including the casual use of slander.
A report commissioned last year by the school district documented a pattern of school leaders ignoring the widespread use of racial slurs by students and teachers, fostering a “growing sense of despair” among colored students, some of whom faced disproportionate disciplinary measures in comparison. with white students.