A Dallas high school valedictorian is claiming her principal cut her microphone off when she mentioned Trayvon Martin and Tamir Rice, two unarmed black boys who were fatally shot by police.
“My valedictorian speech was cut short because I said the names of black children who had become victims of police brutality,” Rooha Haghar wrote on Twitter.
On June 3, Haghar posted the video of her speech on Twitter. It has since then amassed over 30,000 retweets.
https://twitter.com/ItsRoohaHaghar/status/1135567852877025280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.buzzfeednews.com%2Farticle%2Flaurenstrapagiel%2Fdallas-valedictorian-mic-cut-off
Haghar was told by both a teacher and the principal at Emmett J. Conrad High School that the content of her speech did not fall within the school district’s valedictorian speech guidelines–which she claims no student has access to.
Haghar was told to remove the section of the speech regarding prominent black boys who were killed. She refused.
Haghar then realized the virality of the post only gave her speech a larger audience. So, she posted her written speech for her newfound online audience to read.
https://twitter.com/ItsRoohaHaghar/status/1135713914405228544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.buzzfeednews.com%2Farticle%2Flaurenstrapagiel%2Fdallas-valedictorian-mic-cut-off
Temesghen Asmerom, the principal, can be seen giving hand signals right before Haghar’s mic cuts off. She stands at the podium for a few moments before Asmerom nudges her aside and begins to speak.
Haghar claims Asmerom pretended her mic was cut off due to technical difficulties.
“The day of graduation, I had a choice to make. Do I read the censored speech in the binder or speak the words I had originally written?” she wrote on Twitter.
Haghar knew the risks, yet decided none could come “even slightly close to what the families of the victims have to live with on a daily basis.”
READ MORE:
- For Tamir Rice’s family, the fight for justice is far from over
- Celebs, activists honor Trayvon Martin on his 21st birthday
- A review of officers’ Facebook accounts shows routine racist, violent posts
- This database is tracking police brutality across the U.S.
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H/T BuzzFeed News
