Nevaeh Wharton was one of the students targeted in a racist group chat that involved Traverse City Area Public School students.
Afterward, TCAPS says the school board made amendments to their bullying policy, and are drafting a resolution condemning racism.
Nevaeh says that it doesn’t change the way she feels about returning to school.
“To be honest, I’m a little nervous to go into school because I don’t know how things are going to be when I walk through the halls and see the students that said such horrible things about me,” said Wharton.
Nevaeh says many of her classmates have stayed silent on the matter.
“Me, on the other hand, I’d like to tell everybody about how I feel and how wrong this is,” said Wharton.
She says community organizations like Northern Michigan E3 have reached out to her.
The Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation is also working to keep something like this from happening again.
“We want to signal that our culture, our community, is committed to promoting equity and inclusion for people from all nationalities, races, ethnicities, and belief systems,” said David Mengebier, President and CEO of the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation.
The Community Foundation says the work to make the region a place welcome to all is just starting.
“We really saw this as a manifestation of our long standing mission to improve the quality of life for people here in our region,” says Mengebier.
Nevaeh says even though she hasn’t gotten an apology from the students involved, she’s working to educate her peers.
“I’d like to see a change in the community more than anything,” says Wharton.
TCAPS says they are not allowed to release the disciplinary action taken on the students involved, and the Grand Traverse County prosecutor says the students will not be charged.
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