Outrage as Missouri High School Students Reportedly Come Up With Petition to Reinstate Slavery

A petition calling to reinstate slavery in the United States was circulated in Missouri's Park Hill South High School, according to a report by The Kansas City Star. The names of the signatories remain unknown.

Parents and officials from the Park Hill South School District, along with some netizens, have been angered by a "racist" petition launched last week by Park Hill South High School students calling to bring slavery back to the United States.

"We are outraged, hurt, and saddened that this occurred", Park Hill South Principal Kerrie Herren told students in a statement, according to The Kansas City Star. "This is not who we want to be at Park Hill South. Our differences make us stronger. We do not tolerate discrimination or harassment".

Officials from Park Hill School District have reportedly only said that there was a so-called "discipline incident", while other officials hinted at racism possibly being involved.

According to reports, parents were notified in an email of "unacceptable and racist statements that some students posted online during a school-related activity". However, there were no details that could clarify the nature of the said activity or any information about the "signatories" of the petition.

Some parents within the school are reported to have demanded accountability. The Kansas City Star reported that about a dozen parents attended a meeting with Principal Ryan Stanley of LEAD Innovation Studio - another high school in the district. During the discussion of the matter, Stanley said it was "his understanding" that the vaguely described "racist" incident was indeed about the petition to reinstate slavery.

In their calls for accountability, the parents have been joined by many netizens, who expressed their outrage online after the report emerged. Users offered their own measures to be taken against those involved in the petition.

Get the petition and publish it. Show those names. Expulsion. Good luck getting into a college. Good luck getting into the military.

— Sour Scooter (@Writesomethink) September 21, 2021

Permanent suspension for the ones that created it, and a year minimum (if not permanent) for anyone that signed it.

We're where we are because the North handled the LOSER South with kid gloves after the CW.

It's time that stopped.

— Mic_B (@Mic_Burt) September 21, 2021

Others recalled Critical Race Theory (CRT) - a theory suggesting that the United States is a country of "systemic racism", which prompted controversy on several occasions when some schools tried to include elements of CRT in the curriculum.

Why doesn’t CRT infiltrate your kids’ schools when you really need it to? pic.twitter.com/xTuj6IJ8tk

— Nate (@stalenate) September 22, 2021

But the real problem, according to republicans, is teaching CRT...

— office of the "3 word press releases" (@reiterator) September 21, 2021

Slavery was officially abolished in the United States on 18 December 1865 with the adoption of the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution. In June, President Joe Biden signed a law proclaiming Juneteenth a federal holiday, officially making 19 June a day to commemorate the end of slavery in the US.