It takes an awful lot to get my feelings involved in a story. This one choked me up and I can't seem to shake the image in my head of this baby, a first grader.... 1st grade...dying by a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

In-part:

The seven year-old was the only Black student in his class at Salado Elementary School where Chaney says her son was called the n-word, “Blacky”, “snaggletooth”, and ugly, KENS 5 reports. Taylor’s desk was also separated from the rest of the class and his mother said there were incidents where students destroyed pairs of the first grader’s shoes.
...

Even authorities were reluctant to call it what it was. They deemed cause of death an "accidental homicide. To which his parents strongly disagree and seem to have concrete reasons as to why they say he took his own life.

Additionally in the article :
In 2018, suicide became the second leading cause of death in Black children aged 10-14, and the third leading cause for Black adolescents aged 15-19, according to the National Insitute for Mental Health.

There is SO much wrong with what happened to this child it's almost impossible to determine where to even begin in trying to reconcile the end result.

1.) His desk was segregated from the rest of the class. (This isn't 1970 anymore FFS.)
2.) No adults stepped in when kids called him the "n" word.
3.) No adults stepped in as other children destroyed his shoes.
4.) These white children are learning these hateful behaviors from their parents, care-givers, extended families, friends, and the likes of FoxNews/Sinclair Broadcasting, Republican Party members that their parents undoubtedly support.

#gutwrenching
#shamefuladults