Police investigating racist video shared by West Island teens

Highly offensive video has sparked outrage on social media

Warning: This article discusses offensive and disturbing content.

Montreal police are investigating a racist video allegedly created by two West Island high school students. The video was posted to social media Monday morning and has been widely circulating ever since.

In the video, two teenagers in blackface, who introduce themselves by name, dance to a song filled with offensive tropes and derogatory language directed at Black people. Racial slurs such as the N-word are used repeatedly.

The video was reported to police by Kemba Mitchell, chairperson for the West Island Black Community Association. Mitchell said she was so disgusted by the video that she could not finish watching it.

“The fact that these girls thought this was OK, and that they took the time and put so much thought behind it, is very disturbing,” Mitchell said.

The video has gained traction on social media, earning nearly 2000 views on Twitter.

One Facebook user said in a post Monday that the video was sent to her daughter via Snapchat. The user said that her daughter, who is Black, was in tears. The post has since been shared over 850 times.

“People should not be allowed to do this and get away with it,” the post said.

The Lester B. Peterson School Board has confirmed that

the two students belong to John Rennie High School. The school said in a statement posted to Facebook Monday that they are cooperating with authorities in their investigation of the video.

“We wish to emphatically underscore that this video is completely in contradiction to the values shared by our students, staff and our school community,” the statement said.

A petition for the expulsion of the teenagers involved in the video is currently circulating online. 

Note: The Concordian has chosen not to provide a link to the video to prevent the overspreading of its hateful and racist message.

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