More is being learned about the school at the center of last Friday’s controversy when a bunch of MAGA teens were caught on tape appearing to mock a Native American elder on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC.
Covington Catholic High School, in Park Hills, Kentucky is the school that’s facing huge backlash after the ‘mob mentality’ demonstrated by their students last week. According to reports, it’s an all boys school with a high tuition cost which doesn’t say much of anything other than it seems typical of every other private Catholic school around the country that is either all boys or all girls.
However what else is being learned about the school is their alleged rooted problems with cultural diversity within the walls of the institution.
Arien Parsa, a documentary film maker posted a series of tweets on Twitter over the weekend claiming to have not only identified the smug teen in the video but unearthed some of those cultural issues that may further give some detailed context as to why the those MAGA teens were acting like total fucking douchebags.
Parsa said the school was as close as you could get to a ‘whites only’ institution as you could get in the 21st century.
There was one former student who Parsa said he talked to who is of middle eastern decent. According to the student he had to transfer schools due to bullying and being called a ‘terrorist’ by the other kids. In addition to that though, the school also had a problem with homophobic slurs and sexism (which I presume is still a problem) as well as a diversity problem among the faculty.
In any sense though, go ahead and read though Parsa’s tweets for more details.
Finding the #CovingtonCatholic student's identity was not easy.
— Arlen Parsa (@arlenparsa) January 20, 2019
He is not pictured in any of the school's many (many!) pics of student athletes on their website, apparently because he doesn't play sports.
But I sifted through a lot. Because I was so upset at that video. pic.twitter.com/TRJmmuirQ7
Here are 2 fun facts about the #CovingtonCatholic "main student" whose ID I have learned:
— Arlen Parsa (@arlenparsa) January 20, 2019
1: When he was a freshman, he tried to hire an "essay writing service" to do his homework.
2: His mother is a vice president at a major American financial company that you've heard of. pic.twitter.com/HTlTQtaE1f
Why have I decided not to share the #CovingtonCatholic kid's name? Because he's a kid.
— Arlen Parsa (@arlenparsa) January 20, 2019
A dumb kid. Maybe a racist kid. (more on this in a second)
But he's still a kid. Yes, I have confirmed he is under 18. pic.twitter.com/u75cqlRINK
The first thing you need to know about Covington Catholic High School is that it is an elite private boys school with an expensive tuition.
— Arlen Parsa (@arlenparsa) January 20, 2019
But the second thing you need to know is that it is as close to a "whites only" school as you can find in the 21st Century.
#CovingtonCatholic's race problem is not limited to the almost all-white student body however.
— Arlen Parsa (@arlenparsa) January 20, 2019
Before the school hastily removed its teachers directory yesterday, I reviewed it.
Every. Single. Teacher. Is. White.
(at least of those 80 listed yesterday before they took it down) pic.twitter.com/HTVcK9xTBk
After video surfaced of #CovingtonCatholic kids apparently harassing a Native American elder, people were angry at the students (understandably).
— Arlen Parsa (@arlenparsa) January 20, 2019
The school was quick to issue a statement saying it might expel some students involved.
But that's not gonna fix their race problem. pic.twitter.com/OPE625z1O6
While we're at it, we also need to talk about gender at #CovingtonCatholic.
— Arlen Parsa (@arlenparsa) January 20, 2019
I have heard from members of the community there is an ingrained sexism problem at the school (which refers to women as "females").
Cov students have also harassed gay students at other schools. pic.twitter.com/suRBZCgjSP
In the original video of the #CovingtonCatholic kids and the Native elder, there's a moment where this one woman points out that the kids are acting like a mob.
— Arlen Parsa (@arlenparsa) January 20, 2019
"You guys are acting like a mob, that's what's going on. Fucking mob mentality… you guys are what, like 16?" pic.twitter.com/mRUWOcSet7
I think #CovingtonCatholic as a school community needs to do some soul searching about gender, bullying, homophobia, and especially race.
— Arlen Parsa (@arlenparsa) January 20, 2019
They're going to need some space to do that. Let's not be a mob like they seemed to be in that video.
I talked with a person who knows the "main student" in the #CovingtonCatholic video.
— Arlen Parsa (@arlenparsa) January 20, 2019
Turns out, the #magateen's favorite musician was the biracial rapper Logic.
Here are some of his lyrics. I think this is a good way to end this thread and give this community space to reflect. pic.twitter.com/2LQztOq9g5
One final thought: Every student in America (no matter the racial composition of their school) needs to see images like this from the Civil Rights Movement.
— Arlen Parsa (@arlenparsa) January 20, 2019
If we can spread this knowledge of our past as a country, kids today will be more aware of how their actions echo history. pic.twitter.com/W5dDkX78kb
p.s. – trump sucks, public schools rock, please follow me or whatever
— Arlen Parsa (@arlenparsa) January 20, 2019
There is a *massive* systemic inequity in how we as a society treat black/brown kids vs white kids when they screw up.
— Arlen Parsa (@arlenparsa) January 20, 2019
But the solution isn’t to treat white kids just as poorly. It’s to demand we treat black and brown kids way way WAY better.
p.p.s.- my reaction when i try my best to write a thoughtful thread about examining race relations holistically and not getting too caught up on any one person…
— Arlen Parsa (@arlenparsa) January 21, 2019
…and then that one kid *unmasks himself* in a lengthy statement. (can y’all stop hate tweeting at me now pls?) pic.twitter.com/9AvpGicIA1
Parsa also came across another twitter thread in which a former student discussed his experienced being harassed for being gay.
Here is a thread from a gay student at another school who was relentlessly bullied by students at Covington Catholic High School: https://t.co/Ln2tCeg4q8
— Arlen Parsa (@arlenparsa) January 19, 2019
And if you think the all-white majority of Covington may just be a result of the demographics of the area, well there’s this…
These are photos of the Covington Catholic High School basketball team (the school in the Native American harassment video) vs the local public school kids at Holmes High School, 4 miles away.
— Arlen Parsa (@arlenparsa) January 19, 2019
It's extremely clear who @CovCathColonels is meant for. pic.twitter.com/T458cPmB7h
People who are trying to justify the behavior of these asshole kids too are pointing to some arbitrary ‘fact’ that bigotry happens in every high school across the country. Which they’re correct, I’m sure some kind of derogatory term has been muttered in just about every high school in the United States. But is it now the norm for high school kids to go out and show a blatant disrespect for another culture to the point that they become a national embarrassment?
Covington Catholic High School was apparently on a field trip to the “March of Live” in DC last week, something that I’m sure many religious schools take part in. And as far as I could tell there wasn’t any other school thrust into the spotlight due to outright bigotry.
Covington also isn’t the first high school to take part in an out of state, long field trip. Schools visit landmarks across the country on a yearly basis and yet I can’t recall something to this degree happening at not in the past 25 years.
Unfortunately a lot has changed in the past two-plus years. And given the pushback by some who are trying to make what happened Friday normal it’s probably not going to be the last time we something like this happen again.