A nine-year-old black girl killed herself after prolonged racist bullying by her classmates.
McKenzie Adams took her own life after being mocked and taunted because she had a white friend.
Family members say McKenzie had transferred to U.S. Jones Elementary School in Demopolis, Alabama, because she had been bullied at her school in Linden, Alabama, reports the Tuscaloosa News.
Eddwina Harris, McKenzie’s aunt, said: “She was being bullied the entire school year, with words such as ‘kill yourself,’ ‘you think you’re white because you ride with that white boy,’ ‘you ugly,’ ‘black b***h,’ ‘just die’."
The nine-year-old girl, born August 14 2009, hanged herself last Monday. Her grandmother found her in their home.
Instead of planning where to hide Christmas presents for the girl who loved playing with dolls and riding her bike, her family is now planning a funeral.
Ms Harris said: “It’s an emotional roller-coaster.
Harris, who is a television host in Atlanta, said she wants to use her platform to spread an anti-bullying message to prevent other families from experiencing the same tragedy.
McKenzie attended U.S. Jones Elementary School in Demopolis, where her funeral will be held at 11am on December 15. She transferred to the school after her mother and grandmother complained to the State Board of Education that she was being bullied at her elementary school in Linden, Harris said.
McKenzie's mother, Jasmine Adams, told CBS 42 that much of the bullying came from her friendship with a white boy and how his family would drive her to school.
"She told me that this one particular child was writing her nasty notes in class,' McKenzie's mother said. 'It was just things you wouldn't think a nine-year-old should know.'
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