Central Catholic Student Suspended For Derogatory Instagram Post
OAKLAND (KDKA) -- An Instagram post has led to the suspension of a Central Catholic High School student.
The school is calling the remarks made toward an African-American student "racist" and "derogatory."
The Instagram post allegedly came from a junior at Central Catholic, directed toward a senior at school who is African-American.
It reads, in part:
"You filthy fat [expletive] inbred [N-word]. You literally stay in the cafeteria all day and eat until your heart fills up on gas… You're fat as [expletive]."
"I really didn't think the kid who posted it would write something like that," senior Pionn McDonald said. "I didn't know that side of him."
"It's kind of out of character for this school," senior David Mitchell said. "I'm glad the principal is definitely going to do something about it because it's just not something you would expect."
Brother Tony Baginski, the principal at Central Catholic, said the student who posted the message did it under a fake account, but an investigation pinpointed the suspect.
The principal says he is disturbed by the post, but he is impressed by the victim's response, as are some of the other students.
"I think he handled it the best way he could," Mitchell said. "In a case of racism, if you try to handle something with violence, it's only going to lead to more violence, so it's best that he handled it the way he did."
The student who was targeted responded to the post:
"It's one thing to call me ugly, fat, etc. I could care less about that, but the racial slurs I will not tolerate. People really need to grow up because that right there is just pure hate it's pathetic."
The student who posted the derogatory message on Instagram has been suspended for up to 10 days while the incident is under investigation. At that time, an outcome will be determined.
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