Pope John Paul II Investigating Racist Slurs In Student Video

ROYERSFORD, PA — Pope John Paul II officials responded this week to a video circulating social media showing several students chanting the N-word.

An internal investigation into the incident is underway.

"We are disheartened and beyond disappointed that young people attending our school would engage in hateful behavior of this nature," said Ken Gavin, Director of Communications for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

The video shows a group of students gathered around a camera. A girl tells everyone to say the N-word, and they begin chanting it.

Gavin said that the Archdiocese's Office of Catholic Education was notified.

"There is no place for hate, racism, or bigotry at Pope John Paul II or any Archdiocesan school," Gavin said. "It is not acceptable under any circumstances or at any time."

While it's not yet clear what punishment will be meted out against the students involved, Gavin said that "appropriate disciplinary action" would be taken.

Incidents of racial discrimination in schools have become increasingly frequent in the Philadelphia suburbs over the last year and especially since the 2017-18 school year began.

In recent weeks, there were two incidents at Coatesville Area School District in Chester County. The first involved a black doll hanging from a noose in the locker room; the second was a photo of four students standing behind pumpkins carved with "KKK" and swastikas.

A Cheltenham-Quakertown football game in early October was marred by Quakertown students throwing rocks at the Cheltenham cheerleading bus and yelling racial slurs to them as they pulled up to the stadium.

And at West Chester East, a juvenile was arrested for posting racist death threats on social media in mid-September.

Pope John Paul II said the school is considering working with outside organizations to provide "programming" - presumably on racial issues - that would benefit the entire school community.

Patch file photo