John,

A couple days ago, a student at Salmon High School posted a photo to Instagram that made headlines, for good reason.

The photo shows the student and five of his classmates standing around another student on the ground and giving her the middle finger. The standing students are dressed in shirts that spell out the n-word.

The students have been disciplined, and the student who posted the photo apologized yesterday, calling it “immature” and “an ugly joke.”

It’s also racist, and I’m not laughing.

The photo described above, with a headline from KTVB-7 that reads “Students at Salmon High School face disciplinary action after photo using racial slur posted on social media.”

These kids – none of whom are Black – did not spontaneously pose for a “funny” picture. They planned this.

Every single one of them made their letter, attached it to their shirt, picked someone to take the photo, and lined their t-shirts up in order to portray racism like it’s this year’s hottest Halloween costume.

I don’t know these kids, John. I don’t know if any of them hold real hatred for Black people, whether they’ve learned that behavior at home or from right-wing politicians and social media influencers who normalize bigotry and racism.

But I do know this:

That photo isn’t reflective of the past; it’s a reminder of the world we’re living in today.

Since 2020, Republicans in both state and federal positions of power have been working to eliminate class discussions of racism, slavery, and Black History.

They’ve used propaganda, conspiracy theories, and threats to make it happen. Before radicalized parents started taking over school boards, complaining about critical race theory (CRT) and organizing book bans, the former president threatened schools for even discussing The 1619 Project in classrooms.

Republican attempts to rewrite history and bury our racist roots are a disservice to our children and our country. They only further normalize ignorance, discrimination, and violence against Black Americans.

When I’m elected to Congress next year, I will make it my priority to protect our education system and our kids from the GOP’s political attacks and propaganda – and the very real harm that hateful rhetoric causes.

Let’s start by removing Trump-enabler Mike Simpson from his seat in the House. Pitch in now to help me FLIP ID-02 next year.

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We have real work to do to improve public schools, but Republicans are only interested in degrading and destabilizing education.

My kids deserve better, and yours do, too.

David Roth

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David Roth is a single, gay dad running for Idaho’s Second Congressional District. We’re going up against a GOP incumbent who has been in this seat for almost 25 years. It’s time for change in Idaho, and our grassroots campaign is building on the momentum that began in David’s race for U.S. Senate last cycle. The GOP is not planning to defend this seat, so we plan to take it from them and help Democrats retake the House majority next year. We’d love your support to build a solid campaign to bring progress to Idaho and the country.

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