Racism in Metamora, Illinois...

I'm not surprised. If you had driven through Metamora last November, you could have seen a TRUMP - PENCE sign in every yard.

METAMORA — Metamora Township High School says it investigated and addressed a racist video targeting one of its students.

An African-American freshman football player was sent a video created by four of his classmates. In a news release issued late Monday afternoon, the district said it investigated the incident in the past week, including several meetings with all involved and an all-school assembly.

School administration and the director of student services met with the students and had a conversation, including an apology, according to the release. Principal Pete List and Superintendent Sean O’Laughlin met with Willie Williams, the father of the boy targeted in the video, and his family to talk about the incident.

“Then on Sunday, at the request of one of the parents of the students directly impacted by the video, a meeting was held with all of the students and their families who were involved in making the video or impacted by the video,” according to the release.

“It was our understanding that all the students and their families were satisfied with this meeting, with the earnest apologies provided by the students, and with the school district’s actions in this matter,” the release said.

“The language in the video, and the attitudes they represent, have no place in our school, community, or the world for that matter,” the district said. “These students have been assigned disciplinary consequences, have apologized for their actions, and are truly embarrassed by the conduct they exhibited in the video that they say does not represent who they truly are as people.”

October is National Bullying Prevention Month. School administrators and the guidance department will “develop a plan to incorporate this incident” into the school’s programming.

“We want to ensure that MTHS continues to be a school that values equality, respects all people and cares for each other.”

AND NOW THIS...

Are the two related? I'm willing to bet they are.

Source

1. Peoria, IL
> Black population: 9.3%
> Black median income: 46.5% of white income
> White unemployment: 5.4%
> Black unemployment: 15.3%

The poverty rate among black residents in Peoria is more than four times the white poverty rate of 8.2%. Multiple social and economic factors contribute to the significant discrepancy.

Black members of the workforce are far more likely to face difficulty in finding a job than their white counterparts. The black unemployment rate in the metro area is 15.3% compared to a 5.4% white unemployment rate. High incarceration rates also play a considerable role in contributing to regional inequality. Black Peoria residents are nearly nine times more likely to be incarcerated than white residents.