‘Black Lives Matter Monday’ Causes Controversy During High School Spirit Week

DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty
DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty

Students at Manchester High School in Virginia hosted a “Black Lives Matter Monday” during Spirit Week that has been the cause of much debate.

“I know that when I talk to people … older white Americans,” said former congressional candidate Mike Dickinson to WWBT, “they don’t want to have the conversation. They think Black Lives Matter is a terrorist group. Quite honestly and quite frankly we have put a premium on white lives since the conception of the United States.”

Craig Johnson, who is the host of the talk radio program The Really, Real, Deal with Brother Craig, the Hatchet Man took the opposing viewpoint.

“He is a liar,” said Johnson about Dickinson’s statement. “And if you think America is unfair, go tell that to the multi-millionaire NBA players. If you look at the starting five of all the NBA teams … they are 95 percent black.”

The school principal sent out a notice to parents discouraging “underground” spirit days and urged everyone to come together and support the school-sponsored days during homecoming.

“This did not occur during the school day,” said school spokesperson Shawn Smith. “In addition, this was not a spirit day theme.”

“I think it’s good that the kids of America want to have this conversation,” said Dickinson. “They want to push this topic to the forefront.”

Johnson had a different perspective. “When black people clean their neighborhoods, when black men take care of the children that they father, when black men honor the women that they have children with … honor them with marriage and not babymamahood,” said Johnson. “Then we can say black lives really matter because black men are proving that they matter.”

Both Johnson and Dickinson agree that the school should talk, at a public meeting, about the photo of the so-called spirit day that is causing the debate.

School leaders said the event did not disrupt the school day.

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