News

Desert Vista High School Racial Slur — Emily Sears And Samantha Lannone Catching Heat, Alleged Names Released

Published on: January 23, 2016 at 9:22 PM
By Antonio J. Newell

Desert Vista High School responded quickly to the outlandish racial slur expressed by six of its female seniors. Their names are now trending and have been released via Facebook.

At the top of the trending list for the Desert Vista racial slur are Emily Sears and Samantha Lannone, reports Google Trends . However, four other alleged names have been posted to Facebook.

Here’s the original purpose of the shirts.

So far, Facebook hasn’t found the anonymous individuals’ reports to be in violation of community standards. From the looks of the uploader’s Desert Vista photos, someone has attempted to have the racial slur picture removed — because their faces aren’t blurred and their names are included in the caption. The Desert Vista students’ alleged names are reported as follows:

  • Samantha Lannone
  • Emily Sears
  • Brooke Taylor
  • Riley Connor
  • Erin Lum
  • Rachel Steigerwald

According to Atlanta Black Star , the six Desert Vista High School students have been suspended for the racial slur. However, the photo’s uploader, Jiana Emma — as well as other students from the school — note also that the students will still be allowed to participate in the graduation ceremony “because they said it was a joke.” The Desert Vista High School photo can be found in the following Facebook post.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153290070106016

Judging by the majority reaction, appearing at the Desert Vista graduation might not be the best idea for the six girls. Even the school’s principal is taking precautions for potential backlash.

Desert Vista graduation ceremony or not, racial slurs and tensions have increased in America recently. For instance, Donald Trump and his supporters have expressed that they are “angry” simply because they’re not allowed to openly speak racial slurs as they desire. It’s not the case that someone’s provoking them to racial slurs, but these racial enthusiasts just want to engage in personal defamation because it’s deeply rooted in their personalities.

However, these supporters call racial slurs “the truth,” and it’s an unwanted “cultural change” since they can’t “say what they want.” You can hear their racial remarks in the following Facebook post.

https://www.facebook.com/OccupyDemocrats/videos/1049678605125193/

Yet, while their racial slur perception is unfortunate in itself, some Desert Vista students might not mind hitting the “turn up” button at the ceremony. It only takes a moment for racial slurs to evoke emotions in this day and age, and everything goes crazy.

In preparation, according to Inquisitr , Desert Vista’s principal made it clear that the girls would be reprimanded for their actions.

“Dear Desert Vista Families,

We want to let you know we share your outrage and disappointment over the actions of a handful of our students today. We want to make it crystal clear those actions are unacceptable and will not be tolerated at Desert Vista. Those actions do not represent who we are as a campus. We can assure you we will discipline these students in accordance with district policy and our student handbook. While we don’t discuss individual discipline, we can tell you that in addition, the obvious need for sensitivity training will be addressed. As a precaution, Phoenix Police will be increasing security at and around Desert Vista.”

Allegedly, the Desert Vista photo was posted via Snapchat. However, someone took a screenshot of the deplorable act and shared the racial slur with the rest of social media and the world. While it’s unfortunate that this happened, these Desert Vista students have a mind of their own and should have considered the ramifications of such a racial “prank.”

However, the question on many people’s minds is: “Why such lenient disciplinary action?” One of the top comments on Jiana’s post came from on-air personality, Binky Lee. Concerning the Desert Vista racial slur, she stated as follows.

“What makes it even worse, is that little slap on the wrist of suspension. This s**t happened at my rival high school (that is notorious for being filled with rich white kids) a few years ago, and the kids only got suspended as well. The school did everything they could to sweep it under the rug and make it go away because it got national attention too. I had parents calling and getting mad at me for talking about it on the air. ‘They’re kids, they don’t know any better.’ No, they’re f***ing racist pieces of s**t who clearly learned it from your a**es smh. But let them tell it, racism doesn’t exist anymore.”

https://www.facebook.com/binkylee/posts/10101669969285255

Yes, Desert Vista high school seniors will be seniors. But a racial slur?

It’s not like they’re little children, as similarly mentioned by the slur photo’s uploader. If they allowed someone to convince them to make such a bad choice, are they ready for what the world has to offer after high school? Why were their faces blotted out? Why weren’t their names released immediately like those in “Black Lives Matter” cases, regardless of children, teens, or adults? Why the biased nature of it all?

Although it’s unfortunate that these six young women decided to start their post-high school lives with a racial slur — which was captured and spread across the internet at lightning speed — Desert Vista High has made it clear that it’s not taking the fall for their racial expressions.

According to Atlanta Black Star , the Phoenix school district is outraged over the racial slur photo. Superintendent for Desert Vista, Kenneth Baca, stated as follows.

“The event that took place today at Desert Vista will not be tolerated. It is unacceptable for any racial slur to be used regardless of intent. We need to understand that words matter. I can assure you the appropriate disciplinary action will be taken.”

All in all, what are your thoughts about the Desert Vista racial slur fiasco? Feel free to share in the comments.

[Image via Twitter]

Share This Article