A racist video posted to social media shows two Montreal-area students standing in a room with a chest of drawers and emojis fixed onto a wall behind them. They're both wearing blackface makeup. As music plays in the background, they dance around and repeatedly use extremely offensive and racist language.
“If you’re Black, we don’t like you,” says one of the girls.
The minute-long video, which has been viewed a number of times across social media platforms, has received widespread criticism and condemnation.
Montreal police confirmed to MTL Blog on Tuesday that they're investigating the incident.
“We’re aware of the situation at this moment,” said Montreal police spokesperson Raphaël Bergeron.
“It’s under investigation but at this moment it’s too soon to determine If there will be any charges.”
Bergeron said it was up to Crown prosecutors to decide whether to press charges.
The suspects are reportedly minors.
On Monday, John Rennie High School in Pointe-Claire confirmed that they are students.
“This morning, we were made aware of a video that had been posted by two 2 students,” reads a statement from the school.
“The video contained very inappropriate images and racist comments.”
The high school said it has reported the incident “and [is] cooperating fully with authorities in their investigation.”
“It is clear that this video was produced and posted outside the scope of our school activities,” reads the statement.
“Nonetheless, we wish to emphatically underscore that this video is completely in contradiction to the values shared by our students, staff and our school community.”
“Hatred has no place in our school,” it continues.
The Lester B. Pearson School Board has issued a statement denouncing the students’ "disturbing" behaviour and said it was “horrified by the content of the video.”
“That this video is purported to have been posted by students enrolled in one of our schools is devastating,” it reads.
“There is work to do for all of us and this incident is a stark reminder of this fact.”
This article's cover image is used for illustrative purposes only.
