We are hearing for the first time from the father of one of the students that was the subject of racist photo that went viral in the Hartland community.
A packed Arrowhead school board meeting went silent as Santonio Martin shared his family’s experience over the last week. The father of five, moved to tears, as he spoke to board members at the podium Wednesday night.
“My son just sent [the photo} to me like ‘dad this is what’s going on,’” Martin recalled.
He shared with board members and parents gathered what it was like seeing a photo of his son sitting at the lunch table with a racial slur written underneath him.
“I brought him all the way from Georgia so he could play football for this program. We’re only here for business and that’s to get him to the next level, to play division one someday,” Martin shared.
He opened up about his own experiences, saying “This is the first time this happened with my kid, but I go through this every day.”
After an emotional plea to the board to understand how harmful situations like these are, the father of five told TMJ4 that speaking out about this was for more than just his own peace of mind.