Overview:
Many Christian schools and academies were formed during the waning days of segregation, creating refuge for white parents who didn't want their children to attend integrated schools.
The viral video, recorded in what looks like a high school cafeteria, starts innocuously enough. Jeremiah Mason — a Black student at Fresno Christian Schools in Fresno, California — munching on chicken fingers. Then, another student walks in and greets Mason.
“What up, n*gger!” he says.
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Mason, a Fresno Christian senior at the time who has since graduated, looks into the camera, an exasperated, see-what-I-have-to-put-up-with expression on his face. That incident, along with others the teenager surreptitiously caught on camera — including another student throwing up a Nazi salute, then pretending to whip him — led Mason’s father to accuse the school of allowing racism to fester on campus.
“I shared it ultimately with the president of the [Fresno Christian] board,” J. Mason, Jeremiah’s father, told yourcentralvalley.com, a local news outlet. “He told me, ‘Hey, yeah, we’re going to do something about this.’ But I waited for 11 days and didn’t receive any information. I didn’t hear anything.”
“I think it’s literally anti-Christian. You’re setting the team back.”
J. Mason, father of student who was racially harassed at a Christian high school
For parents dissatisfied with local public schools, private, faith-based schools can be an option for their child to receive a quality education anchored in Christian values. But a spate of high-profile incidents points to an undercurrent of racial bias that harms Black students and undermines schools’ religious mission.
“I think it’s literally anti-Christian” J. Mason told the local NBC affiliate last week. “You’re setting the team back” because people see how Christians treat a Black student — “your own people at your own school.”
After receiving inadequate follow-up from school leadership, J. Mason went public with the story. A video of the abuse against Jeremiah has since gone viral.
Part of a Pattern?
The incident at Fresno Christian is the latest in a series of racial harassment allegations involving private Christian schools in recent years.
In July, a Black Los Angeles-area mother filed a lawsuit on behalf of her son, D.W., who endured years of racist bullying at his Cerritos Christian school — including being called a “monkey” and “snitch.”
Last fall, a Black student filed suit against his prestigious private Christian academy in Westlake Village, also in suburban Los Angeles. The student alleged years of racial harassment from peers, including the use of the N‑word, a mock slave auction in the cafeteria, threats of lynching, and even a whipping sound app used to intimidate him. The lawsuit claims staff witnessed some incidents but failed to intervene effectively.
And in Kentucky in 2023, a federal lawsuit filed against the Diocese of Covington alleged a Black eighth grader at St. Joseph Catholic School was harassed with racial slurs by a teacher, including the use of the N-word during a lesson. The teacher then allegedly retaliated against the girl for reporting the behavior, and she was denied Communion during Mass.
The Climate for Black Students in Christian Schools
These incidents raise broader questions about the current climate for Black students in Christian schools — and whether the rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion policies is emboldening overt acts of racism.
In a public statement, Fresno Christian Schools said it “takes all allegations of racial discrimination seriously” and acknowledged that J. Mason had raised concerns about racism earlier this year, and also requested financial compensation.
J. Mason said he asked to be reimbursed for the tuition he paid, given that Jeremiah did not feel safe or welcome on campus. The school offered Jeremiah counseling instead.
Jeremiah has since graduated and J. Mason said he just wants the school to be safe for incoming Black Christian students. But if it won’t take what happened to Jeremiah seriously, it’s a sign the school refuses “to listen to the Holy Spirit,” he said.