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A Black student at Hartland High School in Livingston County is speaking out about racism and harassment at the school, saying virtually nothing is being done to stop it.
Tatayana Vanderlaan, whose Facebook profile indicates that she lives in Swartz Creek, posted a lengthy statement on Monday (3/1), saying that she has been called racist names, including the N-word, and harassed about her hair and appearance. She says that on one occasion, the teacher heard it all and said nothing.
Vanderlaan alleges that there is no diversity and that there are so many racist people at the school and that she s been told that Black lives don t matter. Reports indicate that the Black student population at Hartland High School is less than one percent. The Board President of the Livingston Diversity Council tells WXYZ that her organization has reached out to Vanderlaan to offer its support.
February 19, 2021 By Jon King / jking@whmi.com
A local pastor is responding to an incident last weekend in which individuals disrupted her congregationâs service with racist taunts and threats.
Last Sunday, February 14th, Julie Brock, the Minister of the Community Unitarian Universalists in Brighton, says that white supremacists Zoom-bombed their church service as they celebrated the legacy of civil rights achievements. The culprits, who were able to take over screen-sharing functions and began showing KKK-related images, also made several racist statements and violent threats against Brock herself.
In response, Brock issued an open letter (posted below) to the Zoom-bombers in which she forgave them and stated that while she was âsorry for whatever happenedâ that filled them with so much hate, she wanted them to know that she was not afraid of them and that if their objective was to use fear to change her behavior, or to make her le