Edina High students walk out of school in protest sparked by racist video

About 200 Edina High School students walked out of school shortly before dismissal Thursday, protesting a racist video posted last week on social media that showed Edina students giving the Nazi salute and mocking Asian accents.

They marched a mile and a half to Lewis Park where several shared their experiences of racism and criticized the lack of consequences for the students in the video, calling it a direct attack on Asian and Jewish students. Many carried signs reading "How many went unrecorded?" to urge the school district to address ongoing racism.

The student protesters were demanding that district officials set predetermined punishments for racist acts, regardless of severity. They're calling for more diversity in student government, and more education on race and religion across the district.

District officials have declined to say whether the students in the video have been disciplined, citing data privacy restrictions.

"The video is absolutely no surprise to any person of color and it's only a taste of what [people of color] have dealt with all of our lives, and Edina has never failed to disappoint me in the way this was handled," said junior Claire Chen.

Senior Willow Gilbertson said that not one of the students in the video has made a public apology. When she first moved to the district in 5th grade, she said, boys in her class barked at her during lunch and imitated Asian accents.

"Dear white Edina students and administrators who don't experience racism and have the privilege not to be made fun of because of their skin color, food they eat and most of all culture — you have more privilege than you think," Gilbertson said.

Several students from St. Louis Park joined the walkout, along with a handful of parents. Members of the League of Women Voters Edina attended the rally at the park, and parents there offered rides back to school to students needing to catch the bus.

School district officials notified families and staffers in an e-mail on Wednesday that the walkout was not sponsored by the district and that "area activists have been invited by students to participate."

"We are aware that some of these activists have arrived on school campuses over the last couple of months ... and have led to significant disruptions to school district activities," the district e-mail said.

Lavish Mack and Courtney Armborst, who work with the nonprofit Minnesota Justice Coalition and have supported students protesting racist incidents in Prior Lake and Minnetonka, were in attendance. "Never dilute your message for white ears," Mack told the students.

Chen said her grandparents, Chinese immigrants to the United States decades ago, had encountered harsh racism after they arrived.

"My grandmother would be so heartbroken to know that two generations and 52 years after stepping their foot in America for the first time, their grandchildren are going through the exact same thing," she said.