LINCOLNTON, N.C. — A Lincoln County community is upset after a high school spirit rock was defaced with racial slurs.
Someone spray-painted slurs onto the rock at Lincolnton High School. Those who reached out to Channel 9 said they’re frustrated because they think the words spray-painted on the rock were aimed at Black students playing in a rivalry game against a school with a predominantly white population.
Some of the people who emailed Channel 9 shared a photograph of the rock, painted in the colors of West Lincoln High School. But someone also painted the n-word on the rock.
Lincolnton High School students found the spirit rock defaced the day before their homecoming football game against West Lincoln High School on Saturday. On Sunday, students painted over the words.
“I think it’s disgusting,” said Lincolnton High School senior Aiden Evans.
He said racial slurs have been a part of the rivalry in the past. West Lincoln High School is a rural, predominately white school, whose mascot is a Rebel. Lincolnton High School is one the county’s most diverse schools.
“I guess it’s normal to everybody else, but it’s not to me,” Evans said.
Jonathan Phelps has a child that attends Lincolnton High School, but Phelps himself graduated from West Lincolnton High. He said he heard slurs on campus but told Channel 9 that the incident doesn’t represent everyone in his home community.
“That’s making the whole area look bad,” he said.
“This is just unacceptable,” said another Lincolnton High School senior, Naomi Soto.
She told Channel 9 she wrote the school board chairman asking him to step in.
“We shouldn’t be at a constant fight between if our voice matters or not,” said Soto.
Mark Mullen, the chairman of the school board, told reporter Ken Lemon the incident is not being looked at as just a prank between rival schools. Principals at both schools are involved in trying to find out who is responsible, and the police are also investigating.
“There is no place in society for anything that’s listed, that was done the way this was carried out on campus, or anywhere else in our community for that matter, and it doesn’t reflect the thoughts of our citizens or our community,” Mullen said. “It’s just inexcusable. We are a community and each of us are the same in the eyes of God.”
Mullen said he was not familiar with a history of problems between the schools but that this one act is enough.
“They will be held accountable for their actions,” he said.
Police said they are in the preliminary stages of their investigation.
There are cameras on campus and officials said that whoever did it was likely captured on camera. Police are reviewing video from those cameras.
>> Ken will have much more on this story from the school and the community and you can watch his full report on Channel 9 starting at 5 p.m.
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