The video of white, red-hatted Catholic teenagers harassing and abusing a Native American veteran has struck a serious chord in social media users, horrified and distraught by the extent to which President Donald Trump and his nakedly racist agenda have driven us into the abyss.
But it appears that just as with the nomination battle over accused rapist Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the appalling incident is also shining a light on the role of the private all-male Catholic high school that sent the chudlets to Washington D.C. in the first place played in cultivating racist, self-entitled monsters.
A 1995 alumni of Covington Catholic High School, Matthew Lehman, has organized a petition that already has 1,400 signatures demanding the immediate firing of the principal Robert Rowe and says that he is not surprised by the racist display and blames the school:
“I have watched with concern over the years as CovCath has become less diverse, more elite, and more expensive – even as the surrounding community has become more economically and ethnically diverse. It is abundantly clear that CovCath has lost its way under current leadership and significant changes need to be made at the institution” said Lehman to USA Today.
Indeed, this is not the first time Covington Catholic has found itself in hot water recently.
Just last month before this incident, a 2018 graduate, Jacob Walter, was arrested for the gruesome rape of a young woman which left her with contusions to her right arm, contusions to her right breast and a laceration on her chest.
He laughed at her and told her “she’d be fine” while he did it.
After the story of the MAGA kids harassing veteran Nathan Philips broke, former students took to social media to share stories of their experience at Covington Catholic High, which paint a picture of a school where casual racism, sexism, and bullying is rampant and little is done to rein it in by administrators.
Twitter user @christapeterso assembled the worst of the stories into the following thread. It should be noted that these are all anecdotal and cannot be confirmed.
The MAGA kids’ school seems extremely and consistently horrible pic.twitter.com/fSsPpOigvn
— pizza roll heiress (@christapeterso) January 20, 2019
Homophobia and systematic harassment is a common theme of the stories, as is physical violence by the stronger boys against the weaker ones.
My brother graduated from this all boys catholic school in Northern KY. He was harassed and ridiculed to literally within an inch of his life. I see nothings changed. Shame on you @CovCathColonels https://t.co/WwVOMe9y0G
— JustSomeChick (@Just_SomeChick) January 19, 2019
https://twitter.com/Just_SomeChick/status/1086652022693101568
I was getting fed up with kids from this school calling me a “faggot” and wishing death upon me. So I decided to take a stand and defend myself.
— Mac Duckworth (@macduckworth) January 19, 2019
Issues with the bishop and diocese more generally pic.twitter.com/mlPdAl8hDB
— pizza roll heiress (@christapeterso) January 20, 2019
Two more things to add about #CovingtonCatholic:
1. It appears the boys currently attending the school received instruction to lock down their Twitter accounts after this all gained visibility.
2. It also appears there is a pattern of group harassment, sometimes targeting girls.— Leah McElrath (@leahmcelrath) January 20, 2019
Twitter user Michelle Blau, who says she grew up in Northern Kentucky and interacted with Covington students on a regular basis, says that those students had serious issues with white supremacy and toxic masculinity.
White boys with that smug look is the defining image of my childhood. Not even understanding just how toxic their behavior is because it’s just an extension of how they navigate the whole world.
— Michelle Blau (@MichelleEBlau) January 19, 2019
These boys were from an all-male Catholic school that send their men to shame women for having autonomy over their bodies. We all knew rape culture was rampant at that school and to be careful if dating them or going to their parties.
— Michelle Blau (@MichelleEBlau) January 19, 2019
The stories are all too familiar. We heard them when Brett Kavanaugh’s high school was scrutinized during his confirmation hearing as he battled multiple credible accusations of rape and sexual assault and we will hear them again until we do something about the breeding pools of privilege, toxic masculinity and white supremacy that take the children of the elite and spit out kids who treat racism, bigotry, and misogyny like a game.
Thanks to @christapeterso on Twitter for her diligent curation.