‘Threatening to me personally’: Quincy principal speaks out after racist graffiti found in school

QUINCY, Mass — A year after Quincy High students staged a walkout over a student’s racist social media video, the district is once again the center of a racial controversy after the discovery of bathroom graffiti targeting a Black principal.

“This was definitely a very disappointing and very concerning piece of graffiti,” Quincy Superintendent Kevin Mulvey said.

Mulvey said the message “We want a white principal” was discovered by a student Thursday. Principal Keith Ford is in his first year at Quincy High and addressed the racial incident in a letter home to parents.

“This graffiti was threatening to me personally, as well as other members of the school community,” Ford wrote. “I cannot emphasize strongly enough that this vandalism and hateful behavior will not be tolerated.”

The graffiti comes 13 months after students staged a walkout over a student’s racist social media video. The video posted on Snapchat showed a student using hate speech and uttering racial stereotypes.

Mulvey said the district has worked hard to diversify its staff and make it more reflective of the student body. Principal Ford has been spearheading that effort, another reason why the targeted graffiti is so upsetting, Mulvey said.

“To have something like this happen is not only greatly disappointing to Mr. Ford [but] it’s disturbing to the entire school community,” Mulvey said.

Mulvey said the district reported the incident Quincy Police and the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office.

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