The first Black, female student body president of the nation’s most expensive high school was forced to resign after she posted racist photos on her social media. Maya Peterson of New Jersey’s Lawrenceville School, which has a tuition of $53,000 per year, offended her white schoolmates when she posted racist Facebook statuses and pictures.
In one picture, the school president portrayed the “typical,” white male student by wearing L.L. Bean duck boots with a bucket hat and a navy blue Yale sweatshirt and holding a hockey stick. The pictures were accompanied with hashtags #confederate, #romney2016, and #peakedinhighshool. Threatened with serious disciplinary action if she didn’t resign, Peterson left her position three weeks after her photos circulated.
In her response to Buzzfeed, Peterson remains unfazed and unrepentant of her behavior. Claiming the photos were a joke, she says, they were in response to backlash from another picture of her and 10 Black friends saluting raising Black Power fists.
“I understand why I hurt people’s feelings, but I didn’t become president to make sure rich white guys had more representation on campus,” she told Buzzfeed. “Let’s be honest. They’re not the ones that feel uncomfortable here.”
Since her election, Peterson was no stranger to controversy with her classmates. Students described her as having a “hateful spirit.” A photo of her smoking marijuana was sent to school officials. She also allegedly made racist remarks about a Sikh classmate.
[Images: Instagram]