Students at Spanish Fort High School gathered before school for a peaceful demonstration, pushing back against an explicit, racist and anti-gay rap that spread through the community after being created by one of their classmates.
Organizers stressed the gathering was not aimed at the school itself. “We’re not protesting the school, we’re not protesting the administration or anything like that,” senior Mercedes Cooks said. “It’s simply, we’re protesting what we believe in and this song is out of line completely.”
Unity After an Act of Hate
Juniors and seniors met before classes in what demonstrators described as a show of unity nearly two weeks after the rap — filled with racial slurs and explicit language — began making the rounds. Several students said the recording’s creator was someone they considered a friend.
“You would never expect anything like that to come out of him. He hangs with us, talks to us so you just wouldn’t expect it,” senior Shannon Williams said.
Junior Isabelle Januszewski said she wanted the demonstration to make the community aware of how many students opposed the song. “What the people at our school see is that it’s the majority of the people that are defending the video or saying it’s just free speech,” she said. “But they don’t see the amount of people against that.”
No School Discipline Possible
According to school and city officials, because the rap was created off campus without school equipment, the student behind it cannot be punished by the school system. Demonstrators said they disagree with that outcome but hope the episode becomes a learning opportunity.
“He was talking about everybody. Now everyone feels like they need to do something about it so hopefully this unites us all again,” Cooks said.