On March 14th, a number of students came into Franklin High School in Somerset County, New Jersey, wearing a T-shirt that read "White Girls Club celebrates Pi Day.” The club, allegedly started by eight friends and having exponentially grown since (including students from nearby schools) thanks to social media, has been busted up by the school board and its members were ordered to go to counseling.
After an emergency meeting on Thursday, officials decided to form an advisory committee to "address issues such as discrimination, sensitivity to and acceptance of cultural and racial diversity, and the responsible use of social media." According to NJ.com:
A high school student sent the Home News Tribune a series of screen shots of Tweets by members of the club each posing with three fingers creating a "W" — apparently to symbolize "white," with the hashtag "#wgc," the paper reported.
A girl also allegedly retweeted a tweet sent out by a boy that said "the hallways in the high school," and featured a photo of a group of monkeys or chimpanzees. He also posted a photo on Twitter of the Confederate flag hanging on a wall near bleachers of a gym with the Twitter message "south will rise again," the report said.
The club inspired one student from nearby Edison to tweet at them:
comments such as “Al Sharpton ain’t gonna save your ass now” and “Sometimes I wonder if I crossed a line, but then I remember I’m white and I can do whatever the (expletive) I want." That same girl sent out a tweet saving “Africa this way” with a arrow pointing down.
Which brings us to my new favorite sentence, spoken by one of the White Girls Club members' mothers: “I’m not very happy right now. I think the White Girls Club has gotten out of hand."
"I think the After-School White Power Pizza Party has gotten out of hand."
"I think the Kitten-Killing Society has gotten out of hand."
Lady, what you actually mean to say is "Now that my daughter has been outed as a casual racist and might not get into Williams, this has become a problem." Because it ACTUALLY got out of hand the minute you knew your kid was in a group called the White Girls Club and thought nothing of it.
It's not clear whether the students' involvement in the club will go on their permanent records, but considering no mention of disciplinary activity is to be found in any of the articles, it probably won't, which is tooth-grindingly irritating.
'White Girls Club' at Franklin High School forced to go to counseling' [NJ.com]
'White Girls Club' at Franklin H.S. posting racially insensitive comments and photos' [Daily Record]
Image via Edyta Pawlowska/Shutterstock
DISCUSSION
Eh.. I don't believe that the 15/16 year old girls are automatically racist. They are probably super sheltered and are reflecting the views in their community/homes, not necessarily mature enough to have informed views on race. Not that it is right that these girls made a white girl club, but counseling is a great way to go with this one.