While playing basketball at school in Hanford, Calif., 12-year-old Tarrick Walker’s classmate
called him a “dumb ni**er” multiple times.
In a recent Facebook video, which has received more than 3,600 views, he shares how the experience shocked, and hurt him. He also explained why he’s taking a stand against bullying.
“About a couple of weeks ago, I was called a racist name by a kid at school, over and over,” Walker says.
“It shocked me really about what he said, and how he said it more than once. But that’s not the only part of the story. What really made me feel good was that my friends and other kids on the basketball court stood up for me and told him to stop saying what he did.
“And that made me think about how lucky I was to have such great friends and classmates.
“But, not everyone has the same support I do. And that encouraged me to take a stand. To stand up for kids who are being bullied, and to let parents know to tell your kids about what bullying and racism is, and how it’s not cool.”
Tarrick designed “stop-bullying” blue T-shirts — the official color for National Bullying Prevention Month in October. It includes the hashtag
#IStandWithTarrick.
He and his parents started to distribute them at Kings River-Hardwick School in two days after the September incident, the
Fresno Bee reported.
“Tarrick’s current anti-bullying awareness efforts are proof that KRH children are stepping up as leaders to put positive ideals into action and spread love, acceptance, and compassion to others,” Cathlene Anderson, superintendent of Kings River-Hardwick Elementary School District, told the newspaper.
They gave away 100 free T-shirts on the first day, and orders were placed for 200 more. There’s now a growing demand for the T-shirts outside their community as far away as Texas and Missouri.
“It was like putting gasoline on a fire. So within hours, you know a few days. It was huge and people wanted more shirts,” Tarrick’s father, Marcel Walker told
a local news station.
Readers: What do you think of Tarrick’s response to bullying
