Sometimes, you need to behave like a virus to go viral. That’s the lesson provided to us this week by two white students at Grapevine High School, who recorded a rap song two years ago about lynching African-Americans, along with various slurs aimed at their fellow Latino and Asian students as well. Yesterday, the fecal matter hit the airflow-producing machinery as the song started gaining traction online, prompting Grapevine HS principal Sharon Tovar to send a letter to parents explaining that while the administration strongly disapproves, they can’t do anything because the song was produced while school was not in session. For their parts, the girls responsible have written anonymous letters of apology. For a school that counts Norah Jones and Demi Lovato among its alumni, this isn’t a proud addition to their musical legacy.
The text of the girls’ apology (and audio of the song, if you really feel in the mood) is available in full here. Suffice it to say that the Internet is not impressed. Really, why would they be? First of all, these girls are still hiding behind their anonymity. More to the point, they blame more or less everyone but themselves for what has happened. One of them leads off with, “I have never been so utterly humiliated and ashamed in my entire life, because if you know me, you know you will never meet a human being with as much unconditional love and kindness in their heart as me.” Word of advice from a professional writer: When you’re writing an apology, try not to sound self-aggrandizing. That’s pretty much the opposite of what you want.
The girls also play the “I’m not racist” card, which by now has even been played by English soccer fans who’ve been filmed singing “We’re racist and we like it!” They blame the use of racial slurs in rap music. I don’t know, when I was 14 I had a solid grasp on the idea that it’s different when an African-American says the word “nigger” and when a white person says it. (I can’t say the same for some of my classmates, but they were idiots. By the way, if you still think rap is the problem, I refer you to this very funny Twitter hashtag.) And they say the racial stuff isn’t anything they haven’t heard from their own friends at school. If that really is the case, then that’s something Sharon Tovar needs to get on immediately. There’s about five weeks left in Grapevine High’s school year. There’s time to take action.
