Southern Berkshire community reckons with student's racist post

Heather Bellow | The Berkshire Eagle
SHEFFIELD — A student's racist social media post last week is continuing to stoke fear and outrage in the community, and parents say they are worried about a culture of bigotry among some that festers in the district.
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Mount Everett Regional High School officials say privacy laws prevent them from commenting about the student, a freshman, and they doubled down over the weekend on their stance that such acts are hurtful and require a reckoning.
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Gwendolyn Hampton VanSant, founder and CEO of Bridge, said the behavior of children and students is influenced by parents, teachers and school systems.

"It is our collective responsibility as a county that we don't produce Berkshire children with a limited understanding of civics, civility and our American history," she said. "This young [person] has been failed by our school system."

Stephanie Wright and three generations of her family moved through the Southern Berkshire district, and Wright went on to teach there for two years. Wright, who is Bridge's community engagement coordinator, instructor and facilitator, said her students there were "full of curiosity and suspicion" because they weren't used to seeing educators of color.​

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