11-Year Old Raheem Bailey Loses Finger Fleeing Racist Bullies At School

Racism may be one of America’s favorite pastimes, but anti-Blackness global.

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Black children should be free to learn and have fun in school, not fending for themselves against racist attacks. While conservatives whine about white children’s discomfort from learning about history, Black children like Raheem Bailey have to risk life and limb to attend school. The Independent reports that the 11-year-old had to have a finger amputated after being injured while fleeing from racist bullies.

The boy’s mother, Shantal Bailey, said he “experienced racial and physical” abuse since the school year started last September at Abertillery Learning Community in Wales. She knew the other kids were mean to him but had no idea how much he was suffering until the life-changing injury. Instead of getting help from the teachers at school, Raheem told his mom last Monday that he was punished for getting bullied.

“On Monday, Raheem called me in tears whilst I was at work, saying that he’s being bullied and that the teacher threatened him with detention despite him being the one that’s getting picked on. After work I attended the school and informed them that all this needed to stop. I was then reassured that everything would be handled by the Tuesday morning,” she wrote on an Instagram post.

After allowing these kids to abuse Raheem for a whole school year, it’s hard to imagine they ever lifted a finger to help him. Instead of handling everything the next day, the teachers allowed bullies to jump and attack him even more severely.

“On Tuesday morning break time, Raheem was attacked and beaten by a group of children whilst in school. He was pushed to the ground and then repeatedly kicked. Consequently, Raheem made a desperate attempt to leave the school grounds in order to escape the situation.”

As one of the smaller kids in his class, outnumbered and unprotected by teachers, running away seemed like the only option. When he tried to climb a fence to escape, “his finger got caught and attached to it, causing the skin to strip and the finger to break in half.”

“I received a phone call from Raheem and then the school informing me of the incident. The school told me that the ambulance wouldn’t arrive for 2 hours, but advised me not to drive Raheem to A&E myself. Raheem, his baby brother and I were taken to a minor injuries unit by the school bus, despite them knowing that his injury was severe.”

Every minute counts to treat severe injuries, but the Abertillery staff showed no urgency or concern to help Raheem. They wasted precious time insisting Shantal take a school bus instead of driving the boy to a hospital. He then had to wait another 5 hours and travel another 50 miles to get emergency surgery on his finger.

“As time rolled on, it became more apparent that the possibility my son was going to lose his finger was a real one. The doctors then confirmed this was likely. I had to explain this to him while he sat there in agony.

“After 6 hours of surgery to save it, which was ultimately unsuccessful, his finger had to be amputated. From the day of the incident until now Abertillery learning community have not reached out to me to check on his well-being.”

The negligent school released a statement claiming that the “well-being and safety of our pupils and staff remains of paramount importance.”  Gwent Police confirmed it is investigating the incident. The school deleted its public accounts, but only after posting a half-assed Tweet celebrating “diversity.”

Shantal’s GoFundMe campaign to pay for his prosthetic finger exceeded the goal, raising more than £84,000 and counting. It’s fantastic that they have financial support through this tragedy, but the school, teachers, and parents who enabled this little lynch mob need to be held accountable.