They’re beating me up

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           They take turns punching me in the face and stomach, blow after blow! Two of them held me while one of them punches me! They took turns doing this until all three of them had punched me and called me a NIGER! I’m in a complete daze – I really didn’t feel the blows because I think I was in total shock that this was actually happening to me. I’m seven and I don’t have a reference point for why someone would do what these kids are doing to me. Oddly enough, one thing I do remember is the pain of being called a NIGER!

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        I don’t know how I knew that word was bad but that day that word severely cut me. It was the only pain I felt during the whole ordeal! From that point forward everything was a blur. Imagine being beaten and racially assaulted and your crime is; playing on a school playground with a friend. School is supposed to be one of the safest places a kid can be, but for me, it became a courtroom where there is no due process only a conviction for the crime of being a black friend. That’s a very difficult reality for a seven-year-old to handle; don’t you think?