Leaders outraged over another racist video featuring Southlake teens

SOUTHLAKE, Texas - Southlake city and school district officials say they are upset after a new racist video surfaced on social media.

This is the second time in just a few months that an offensive video featuring teens, some from Southlake Carroll High School, has surfaced. In October, the Carroll Independent School District punished a group of students who were seen on video chanting the n-word.

The video made such a stir that Carroll ISD held special meetings for public comment, met with groups of moms, updated its policies for dealing with discrimination and brought students together for discussions on cultural awareness.

The latest video, which FOX 4 will not air, has four teenagers inside a vehicle with music playing when at least two of the youngsters start shouting the n-word.

“We were notified by some of our students last night about another inappropriate video,” Carroll ISD said on its Facebook page. “We are acting swiftly and consistently; behavior that involves derogatory speech that targets individuals or groups of individuals for their ethnicity, race, religion, sexual orientation or disabilities will not be tolerated in Carroll ISD.”

The school district said the teen that was featured prominently in the video has already apologized and will be disciplined.

Southlake Mayor Laura Hill says she's beyond disappointed and is calling on parents to take more of a responsible role when it comes to this type of behavior.

"This tone that a very few children are bringing into the school is coming from outside the school,” Hill said. “So parents have got to look at themselves and say, ‘What are we talking about at our home? What are we saying? What are we watching? Are we having hard conversations with our kids?’”

Carroll ISD says it immediately launched an investigation into the 12-seconds-long video posted on social media after it was made aware of it Tuesday night.

A district spokeswoman says two of the four students on the recording are Southlake students. One is from the 9th and 10th grade campus. The other is an upperclassman.

"We do believe it is a learned behavior and we don't believe kids are born feeling this way,” said Carroll ISD Spokesperson Julie Thannum. “We feel like they learned this kind of behavior.”

Thannum adds that music, pop culture and movies add to negative mixed messages students emulate.

Student MacNeal Hall said it’s obviously not a school-wide problem, but it’s still a problem, nonetheless.

“The loudest voices are the ones that are heard,” Hall said. “And they’re the ones that keep putting it on social media.”

Jessica Spawn wrote a children’s book that teaches inclusivity and says she’s heartbroken by the actions of the students in the videos.

“They’re about to go to college and get jobs and actually impact the world through their culture,” she said.

I am at a loss for words, at least words that are becoming a mayor. I will not allow this to become a beat down on Southlake again, but I am going to say, parents we had better wake the heck up,” Mayor Laura Hill added in a letter to residents.

Hill also encouraged parents in the city to take some responsibility for their kids’ bratty behavior. She said Carroll ISD cannot be expected to raise their children, teach them morals, ethics, common decency and academics.

In the meantime, the girl seen and heard most prominently in the video has since posted an apology. It concludes by saying "It was 100 percent wrong of me, and I'm sorry to anyone I hurt. I was being ignorant and selfish and immature."

It is unclear what consequences the students will face. The district is reviewing policy.

The city is still planning to host the Celebrate Southlake event on March 23 to celebrate the diversity and different cultures within the city.