Lowell Students Suspended After Racist Texts

The exchange occurred hours after the election of a black student as senior class president

Anye Nkimbeng is the newly elected high school senior class president at Lowell High School, but the 18 year old says that excitement soon turned sadness and fear, when he learned other students were using racial slurs while referring to him in group phone text conversation.

One text read "rule out blacks."

Another insinuated he couldn't speak English.

That wasn't even the brunt of it:

"Saying "F" Anye, "F" black people, saying they're going to lynch me because I won class president, and I was just shocked," said Nkimbeng.

NECN has learned six students at the school have now been suspended for the texts.

In addition to the discipline, the City of Lowell says school officials met with Anye's parents and have worked things out, including a safety plan for him.

However, at first Anye says he wasn't satisfied with administration's response:

"They just tried to avoid it. The headmaster never talked to me, never called me to the office to see how I felt," he said.

City Manager Kevin Murphy described the texts as completely unacceptable in a town that is welcomes all diversities.

"We firmly believe this is abhorrent behavior that happened just once. We can't understand why it would happen because we are a city of diversity," Murphy said.

The city says the school is now looking to start the healing process.

Anye's father also says he's not looking for punishment, but education.

Fru Nkimbeng said, "I'm just thinking and praying that out of this incident something positive can come out of it...I don't believe in the first strike you're out, we learn from this."

Anye says his focus is now on his education and being the best class president he can be.

"Because I'm the class president, I want to make sure we have a good year and to make sure this doesn't repeat itself next year," he said.

Murphy says the District Attorney's Office has done an investigation and determined the matter does not rise to a criminal offense.
 

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