Viral video shows a Georgia bus driver pushing a 6-year-old Black boy and then pushing the child's 10-year-old sister in an encounter the children's mother, a Black woman, said the school system would have rather glossed over. James O'Neil was arrested on Friday and faces two counts of simple battery, according to the Morgan County Citizen. He was also terminated after a unanimous vote at the Morgan County Board of Education meeting earlier this month, the news source reported.
“After our investigation, the Board voted to approve the bus driver’s termination on Monday,” Dr. Virgil Cole, superintendent of Morgan County schools, told the Citizen. “We certainly take all incidents involving any student and our staff seriously and we will work quickly and directly to address them. We will not tolerate any inappropriate behavior or actions towards our students. Their safety is our number one priority.”
Nequania “Nene” Carter, the mother of the two students, told the Citizen she has seen the school system fail to prioritize her concerns.
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“It’s completely unacceptable,” the mother said. “We do believe this was racially-motivated. This is not the first time we have complained about this bus driver harassing our children.”
Carter shared concerns with the Citizen that the school system only fired O’Neil because the story went viral. “We feel like he was terminated because the story got more coverage than the Morgan County Charter School System would have liked,” she said. “It was rumored that they were just going to send him to be retrained.”
The recent encounter began on Sept. 9 when the bus driver, a white man, told Carter’s 6-year-old son to sit in the back of the bus while normally children his age sit in the front, the mother said. High school students sit in the back, Carter said. It’s unclear what lead O’Neil to push the student. But when he did, the child cried and called for his older sister, Carter said. She also accused Alicia Lord, the school district's transportation manager, of failing to take the attack seriously.
“She said it was my son’s fault for calling out for his sister,” the mother said. “Of course he called out for his sister. This man was pushing him and he was scared. He’s only 6 years old!”
Morgan County is located about 60 miles southeast of downtown Atlanta. It has a population of more than 20,000 residents, more than 75% of whom are white, and about 20% are Black, according to the latest U.S. Census figures.
The Morgan County School District has not responded to Daily Kos’ request for comment.
Pastor Lonnie Brown, president of the Morgan County NAACP, said in a statement the Citizen obtained that the organization continues ”to fight for equality and to eliminate race base discrimination on all levels for our youngest to the oldest citizens.”
Brown called the recent incident an “injustice” that is “beyond words.”
“The NAACP cannot sit back and not speak out on this matter,” Brown said. “We cannot continue to let children especially our black and brown children be mistreated. If we do not stand up for our children, who will?”
Carter told Fox 5 Atlanta she has removed her children from the school system. "I was stunned … the emotional damage that it did … my kids don’t want to go back to school … they don’t want to get back on the school bus," Carter told the news station.
She said she used to drive school buses too and never put her hands on a child.
Donald Trump and his MAGA allies came close to overthrowing our democracy on January 6, and they will try again if they win in 2022. The best thing you can do is to help get out the Democratic vote for the midterms, and we need everyone to do what they can. Click here to find all the volunteer opportunities available.
RELATED STORY: Georgia students file federal lawsuit over public school ban on Black Lives Matter apparel
“After our investigation, the Board voted to approve the bus driver’s termination on Monday,” Dr. Virgil Cole, superintendent of Morgan County schools, told the Citizen. “We certainly take all incidents involving any student and our staff seriously and we will work quickly and directly to address them. We will not tolerate any inappropriate behavior or actions towards our students. Their safety is our number one priority.”
Nequania “Nene” Carter, the mother of the two students, told the Citizen she has seen the school system fail to prioritize her concerns.
RELATED STORY: 'No excuse for this appalling behavior': California principal pushes autistic student to floor
“It’s completely unacceptable,” the mother said. “We do believe this was racially-motivated. This is not the first time we have complained about this bus driver harassing our children.”
Carter shared concerns with the Citizen that the school system only fired O’Neil because the story went viral. “We feel like he was terminated because the story got more coverage than the Morgan County Charter School System would have liked,” she said. “It was rumored that they were just going to send him to be retrained.”
The recent encounter began on Sept. 9 when the bus driver, a white man, told Carter’s 6-year-old son to sit in the back of the bus while normally children his age sit in the front, the mother said. High school students sit in the back, Carter said. It’s unclear what lead O’Neil to push the student. But when he did, the child cried and called for his older sister, Carter said. She also accused Alicia Lord, the school district's transportation manager, of failing to take the attack seriously.
“She said it was my son’s fault for calling out for his sister,” the mother said. “Of course he called out for his sister. This man was pushing him and he was scared. He’s only 6 years old!”
Morgan County is located about 60 miles southeast of downtown Atlanta. It has a population of more than 20,000 residents, more than 75% of whom are white, and about 20% are Black, according to the latest U.S. Census figures.
The Morgan County School District has not responded to Daily Kos’ request for comment.
Pastor Lonnie Brown, president of the Morgan County NAACP, said in a statement the Citizen obtained that the organization continues ”to fight for equality and to eliminate race base discrimination on all levels for our youngest to the oldest citizens.”
Brown called the recent incident an “injustice” that is “beyond words.”
“The NAACP cannot sit back and not speak out on this matter,” Brown said. “We cannot continue to let children especially our black and brown children be mistreated. If we do not stand up for our children, who will?”
Carter told Fox 5 Atlanta she has removed her children from the school system. "I was stunned … the emotional damage that it did … my kids don’t want to go back to school … they don’t want to get back on the school bus," Carter told the news station.
She said she used to drive school buses too and never put her hands on a child.
Donald Trump and his MAGA allies came close to overthrowing our democracy on January 6, and they will try again if they win in 2022. The best thing you can do is to help get out the Democratic vote for the midterms, and we need everyone to do what they can. Click here to find all the volunteer opportunities available.
RELATED STORY: Georgia students file federal lawsuit over public school ban on Black Lives Matter apparel