A 9-year-old girl’s complaints to her Minnesota school board about Black Lives Matter posters staying up despite there being “no politics” allowed in school is gaining her national attention, after she told the school board: “I do not care or look at the color of skin, but you make me think of it.”
The unidentified female student, who referred to herself as “Novalee,” pointed out the double standard at her school to the Lakeville Area School Board during a June 8 meeting, though video of the speech only began making the rounds this week.
The child began by telling the school board that she initially saw the posters while walking down the hall at Lakeview Elementary School to give a teacher a going away present.
“I looked up onto the wall and saw a BLM poster and an Amanda Gorman poster,” she continued, referencing the Nobel laureate poet who spoke at President Biden’s inauguration in January.
Seeing the posters, the girl said, made her “so mad.”
“I was told two weeks ago at this very meeting spot: No politics in school,” she continued, adding that she “believed what you said at this meeting.”
After seeing the posters, she went to the principal and demanded they be taken down.
The principal, however, told her that they could not be removed, as it was the school board that had them installed.
“It is a political message about getting rid of police officers, rioting, burning buildings down,” the young student argued to the school board, going on to refer to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, as a “king” who “just sits on his throne and watches.”
“You expect me to believe that you did not know what you were doing by making these posters?” she asked. “Come on, people.”
Lakeville is a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The city of Minneapolis and the state of Minnesota have been on edge in the last year, following the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed black man killed by Derek Chauvin, a white police officer. Floyd’s death sparked a racial justice movement that included a summer of protests and rioting.
The state was dealt another blow during Chauvin’s trial in February, when Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old black man, was shot by a white police officer who thought she was pulling out her Taser.
That suspect, former officer Kim Potter, has since been charged with second-degree manslaughter.
“I do not judge people by the color of their skin, I don’t really care what color their hair, skin, or eyes is [sic]. I judge by the way they treat me,” Novalee said.
“I do not care or look at the color of skin, but you make me think of it. I have Asian, Mexican, white, Chinese, black friends and I don’t care. I like them because some of them make me laugh, some are sweet and kind, sporty, or share the love of God. They are just my friends. You have lied to me and I am very disappointed in all of you.”