Rice students to hold demonstration after officer throws high schooler

By Anita Alem     10/28/15 5:15am

Students will hold a demonstration on Friday at noon in the academic quad following an incident of a school sheriff’s deputy throwing and dragging a black female student at Spring Valley High School in South Carolina.

Wiess College senior Blaque Robinson, one of the organizers, said the demonstration will involve black women linking arms in solidarity, with black men and allies participating in other ways. There will be music, spoken word poetry and signs about violence against black females.

“The demonstration is about bringing visibility to the struggle uniquely faced by black women that fail to be addressed in the mainstream versions of the #blacklivesmatter movement,” Robinson said. 

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Robinson said the event serves as a lead-up to the Channelling Passion Into Action Conference this spring. The event and conference are housed under the Office of Multicultural Affairs.

Videos of the incident have gone viral since they were released on Monday night. News outlets reported that the student refused the teacher’s request to leave the classroom, following which a white sheriff’s deputy, who also served as a football team coach, wrapped his arm around the student’s neck and flipped her out of her seat.

Robinson has previously organized rallies at Rice in solidarity with the protests in Ferguson, Missouri and Eric Garner.

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