A 14-year-old student has been charged with a hate crime after he allegedly listed his black classmate as a "slave for sale" on Craigslist. AsBuzzFeed News reports, the Naperville, Illinois student was charged on Wednesday, after taking a photo of his classmate earlier in the month, and using it for the listing, which was titled "Slave for sale (Naperville)."
"We hold our students accountable for their behavior, which includes appropriate disciplinary consequences," Principal Bill Wiesbrook said in an email to parents of students at the school. He insisted that the listing on Craigslist was "not reflective" of the school as a whole. The Craigslist ad made its way to social media, and the description had a racial slur.
The mother of the victim, who wishes to remain anonymous, spoke with WGN News about the situation. "They used to be friends, they are not anymore. The moment he started teasing my son, calling him dumb, making fun of his skin color, saying ‘shut up slave’ last October," she said. "They are not friends anymore."
Naperville police chief, Robert Marshall, released a statement on the hate crime, which he called a "despicable and extremely offensive post that is not at all reflective of the caring, welcoming community that our department serves and protects every day."
Earlier this month, a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant in Naperville fired multiple employees after a group of customers were allegedly relocated because they were black. One of the individuals was asked what their ethnicity was, and when they asked why that matters, they were told one of the regulars at the restaurant "doesn't want black people sitting near him." The manager then reportedly relocated the customers.
