A black student charged of racial threats at a suburban high school.

[Danny]

This would bring teers to my eyes:

Source: http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/27927085/detail.html

Could it be this black student who wrote these racial messages [[including himself) is trying to get people to think that a white student who wrote messeges to stir up a RACE WAR! at a suburban high school? Or does this black student a victim of being bullied that was race related? Any thoughts.

[Ray1936]

Just shows that most young people are idiots, be they black, white, or whatever. I was young once. You draw the conclusion.

[Whitehouse]

Does remind me of this news item:

Neo Nazi couple discovers they are Jewish.

[Bham1982]

I live in the Seaholm-zoned area, and so was very disturbed to hear of this. Glad to hear the kid was caught.

Supposedly a special-ed student, and had some beef with other students. Really unfortunate how he choose to express his anger, but teenagers [[especially male teenagers) are often idiots.

[ejames01]

Is his name Clayton Bigsby?

[Detroitej72]

Ironically, they are going to charge him with a hate crime.

The bigger problem with this idiot's actions is that it may cause folks to question other legitimate cases of racism.

[DTWflyer]

I think I'm most annoyed at how the media is trying to blow up this story during May sweeps particularly WDIV. They are the ones trying to play the race card and make you believe that everyone in Birmingham or more or less at this high school is racist.

It one idiot which shouldn't pass judgement on the other 1,000 students at this school, that is one of the best public high schools in the state, if not the nation.

[coracle]

Just shows that most young people are idiots, be they black, white, or whatever. I was young once. You draw the conclusion.

I have a question rather than a conclusion. Why do you find it necessary to equate most young idiot white kids who weren't involved at all in the offense with the one idiot black kid that actually did it? Are you trying to dilute his culpability because he's not white?

[Danny]

There are about 80 black students at Birmingham Seaholm High School and 1134 white students. One black students wrote racial comments target black kids just for a RACE WAR! How stupid does that black student get. Most folks will NOT play race cards and we're tired of it. We Americans learn from the fear of terrorism and rise of school bullies and criminal prosecution will happen to any prep who damages the school's reputation. Most public schools is property of the federal government. Damaging and borthering anyone on federal property will be arrested to the fullest extent of the law. Even into federal prison [[ there will be little or no plea deals on federal crimes on the act of foreign or domestic terrorism.)

[rjk]

I was an idiot in HS, but I never did anything close to what this kid did. Maybe we need another word for him. Deluxe idiot?

Hopefully this kid gets the same punishment as a white kid would if he did the same thing.

[Richard]

I have a question rather than a conclusion. Why do you find it necessary to equate most young idiot white kids who weren't involved at all in the offense with the one idiot black kid that actually did it? Are you trying to dilute his culpability because he's not white?

I got what he said,most of us did some what is considered stupid things in later life when we were young ,no dilution there at all.

[Bham1982]

It's unfortunate too because Seaholm [[specifically) and Birmingham Schools [[in general) already had something of an undeserved reputation as Whitey McWhiteville, with no diversity whatsoever.

This used to be true [[in fact, there were historically very few Catholics and almost no Jews, to say nothing of racial minorities), but Birmingham Schools are nowadays somewhat diverse, at least in regards to Whites and Blacks [[not so much for Asians- try Troy, Farmington or Bloomfield, or Hispanics- try Downriver, Waterford, Pontiac, or SW Detroit).

In fact, Birmingham Schools could have a majority black elementary school within a few years. The district includes Bingham Farms, Beverly Hills and a sliver of Southfield, and all those areas have been gaining African Americans.

Most blacks attend Groves, though, not Seaholm. Groves serves the non-Birmingham City part of Birmingham schools.

[Jimaz]

Is his name Clayton Bigsby?

• Frontline - Clayton Bigsby, Pt 1
• Frontline - Clayton Bigsby, Pt 2

[Ray1936]

I got what he said,most of us did some what is considered stupid things in later life when we were young ,no dilution there at all.

You got it, Richard. Lighten up, coracle.

[eno]

According to WDIV-TV, Courtney Thomas was bullied back in December by a white student who passed around a photoshopped picture of Thomas with a noose around his neck. The white student was suspended but the school did not bring the police into it. I wonder if Courtney Thomas wasn't trying to frame the white student by his copycat effort of racial intimidation to avenge being bullied. The school hasn't offered a response as to why they have treated the two cases differently.

[Wingnatic]

The white student was suspended in December and this guy decides to retaliate in May ? lol
When I attended Seaholm in the mid to late 60's I think it was 100% white , or seemed like it . Groves back then , not sure about it but they had students that lived in Southfield . Pre Seaholm I attended Derby Middle School [[ Adams Rd . near Maple) and was suspended for wearing a light blue denim shirt that has '' State Prison'' stencil over one pocket and a serial number over the other [[bought it that way)
So they must not be very tolerant of shenanigans . If Seaholm would have reported the original offense , this probably would not have happened . Things like this should be made an example of right away to deter anything like this in the future .

[eno]

I believe the racist graffiti was found in April.

Hey, my brother had one of those "prison shirts" back in the mid-60s. Back then, you weren't allowed to wear denim pants. Authorities claimed the rivets in the pants scratched the desk seats.

[R8RBOB]

I admit when I saw this on the news, I laughed my ass off. I thought it was incredulous that a Black student would create a hit list of Black students and on top of that he would put his own name on the list. I suppose he meant to include himself to cover the fact that he created the list. Like I said, I laughed but I started thinking. Why would he do that, I asked. Why would create an race issue? And the answer was given during the newscast. He was a victim of racial threats and the school gave the student a slap on the wrist.

I think young Courtney Thomas wanted to bring awareness to a festering problem at Seaholm High. According to Danny, there are 14 White students to every one Black student so this is a school that is White. Now I hope to believe that the majority of White students at Seaholm don't hold a bigoted view of Blacks but we know some will have an negative opinion of Black people. That is expected but that does not mean the school should sit on their hands and do nothing. The question that should be asked is how many Black students at Seaholm have experience some sort of racial tension. As the old saying goes, "all that glitters, is not gold."

[English]

Something like this happened in Washtenaw County when I was in grad school -- either A2 or Saline.

[stinkytofu]

I'm a relatively recent Seaholm grad [[2005) and find this whole situation sad. Whatever the details are, it's just disappointing to have your school in the news for this.

I always did find one thing about BPS to be odd and, frankly, stupid. Groves, the other BPS high school, had many more black students than Seaholm did [[Seaholm was like 98% white as recent as a few years back). The autistic program in BPS for high schools was located at Seaholm and open to many communities outside Birmingham. When I was at Seaholm, out of the 20-25 autistic students, 15-20 of them were black from Pontiac, Southfield, etc.

For the casual Seaholm white student, outside the couple black kids that were in your grade, your only interaction with black students was seeing the autistic kids in the hallways. It instilled horrible impressions amongst the student population. Why wouldn't BPS put the autistic program in Groves where there is a much greater diversity of students? The casual student at Groves would have more friends of many different races and wouldn't form conclusions of certain races based on the autistic program.

I'm not sure if it is different now, but it always troubled me...

[stinkytofu]

According to WDIV-TV, Courtney Thomas was bullied back in December by a white student who passed around a photoshopped picture of Thomas with a noose around his neck. The white student was suspended but the school did not bring the police into it. I wonder if Courtney Thomas wasn't trying to frame the white student by his copycat effort of racial intimidation to avenge being bullied. The school hasn't offered a response as to why they have treated the two cases differently.

If true, this is really, really troubling that the administration at Seaholm did not take this to police. Clear racial hate towards a black student that should 100% be reported to police. Not a good way for the principal who has been there for years to go out [[he's retiring this year)...

[Russix]

He tried to frame a racist. Sounds good theoretically, but apparently doesn't work out so well scribbled on the bathroom walls. In situations like this, you need to delegate acts of justified retailation outside the sphere of your legality. Should of posted the flyer jackass made of him here with jackass' name, address, and phone number to start a wave of internet vigilantism. I'm good for a couple of prank phone calls to mommy and daddy's work asking their boss why their son hates black people.

[Bham1982]

I love how the last few commenters have used rumor and heresay to deflect blame on the school and community.

What about all the lynching threats he sent to the school's black teachers? I'm sure he just wanted to warn them of the horrible dangers that awaited them in Jim Crow Birmingham, right?

Yeah, poor kid; the school made him do it. Obviously he's a victim of blatant discrimination, and the hate messages were just a cry for help...

[R8RBOB]

I love how the last few commenters have used rumor and heresay to deflect blame on the school and community.

What about all the lynching threats he sent to the school's black teachers? I'm sure he just wanted to warn them of the horrible dangers that awaited them in Jim Crow Birmingham, right?

Yeah, poor kid; the school made him do it. Obviously he's a victim of blatant discrimination, and the hate messages were just a cry for help...

Hmm, you're a homer and I can understand you attempts at defending Birmingham. I respect that but you are naive if you think this disturbing trend do not occur in this school. The space cadet who created the hit list was an idiot. There is no denying that but the fact remain that a White student did intimate this student racially. Again, I ask how many other students were intimated? I haven't been in high school in 22 years but I know that there was never one bully, one asshole, one nerd, one snob. There are always many and if Seaholm have someone who have racist views, you better believe there are more so again the question is how many Black students are intimated by these assholes?

[Detroitej72]

The blame lies solely with this Thomas kid. You can justify his actions all you want, but the fact is he needs to face the consequences.