‘I Was Just So Used to It’: Black Students at Idaho High School Were Constantly ‘Degraded’ with Racial Slurs By Classmates While Staff Stood By and Did Nothing, They Say

Years of blatant racism at Eagle High School in Idaho have brought two families to the brink. After school administrators allegedly ignored “countless” complaints and video evidence of racial harassment, the father of two of the victims is planning a lawsuit against the district.

He recently took their ordeal public in the hopes of helping other students.

Bella Cameron, Jaedynn Hodge, and Jaedynn’s unnamed little sister say they endured a barrage of shocking and unapologetic racist harassment at Eagle High School in western Idaho, just outside of Boise.

Two of the girls spoke with KTVB7 about being persistently targeted with racial slurs by other students — sometimes in front of teachers who allegedly did nothing about it. They said when students discovered they complained, they would suffer further bullying.

“There isn’t a lot of people of color at our school,” Jaedynn explained . “I don’t think we’re the only ones who have ever experienced it. I think we’re the only ones who have really been able to speak up and are willing to speak up,” said Bella, who eventually switched to online classes for her safety. According to her LinkedIn, she is now a freshman at Boise State University, along with Jaedynn.

The girls felt “defeated” and resigned to the alleged harassment during high school.

“I was just so used to it; I was so used to not having an outcome or not getting help or not feeling protected,” remembered Jaedynn. “It’s the culture they’ve created at the school… nobody cares, and there’s nothing you can do,” added Bella.

Eagle has a predominately white population, comprising 85 percent of residents, and according to 2022 Census Data, just 57 African Americans live in the city.

Jaedynn said by sophomore year, she was “called the N-word frequently by other students.”

One time, Bella said she was taunted by a student in front of a teacher, seemingly without any fallout.

“A kid started to annunciate the N-word at me and kept saying more bits of it, like ‘ni, ni, ni…’ and we were right in front of the teacher’s desk.”

In another incident, the girls claim a history teacher used the slur in front of the entire class to explain what the hip-hop group N.W.A. stood for. The girls told KTVB7 that the teacher also used derogatory names for black military members.

“It’s just degrading,” said Jaedynn.

“It feels like whenever they say that to your face or whenever they call you that, that’s all you are, so it kind of strips away a part of your identity,” Bella said through tears. “It’s hard not to give something like that power because it hurts a lot. There’s a lot of power behind it.”

The Hodge family provided the news outlet with audio of a December 2023 meeting between the girls and Vice Principal Marc Lannon, where they asked athletes using racial slurs to be held accountable. In the audio, Lannon says he would take action once the girls gave him specific names.

“Every time something happens, I want to know about it, and I think you’ve been great with communicating with me…. It’s a high priority for me,” he said during the December meeting.

But Manzo Hodge, Jaedynn’s father, says that after lodging multiple complaints with the principal, telling school counselors, and informing the administration, there were still no improvements and seemingly no repercussions for the perpetrators.

At a time of life that should be filled with cherished memories, Jaedynn told the news outlet she “got used to being scared to go to school, begging my parents not to let me go.”

“Despite the good memories, it will always be masked with the bad ones,” said Jaedynn.

Manzo Hodge became so frustrated with the lack of response that he went all the way up the chain of command to the superintendent and human resources director, Dr. Derek Bub. Bub’s carefully worded response promised to “facilitate an appropriate investigation with effective corrective action,” but that “action” didn’t materialize, according to Hodge, and the father never heard from the district again.

Feeling like he was getting the runaround, Hodge filed a notice of tort claim in June, the first step toward a lawsuit. Due to the pending litigation, neither Eagle High School nor the West Ada School district would comment to local reporters.

“I’m happy we’re bringing it to light because I don’t want anyone else to have to go through what we went through,” said Bella. The families say that any financial settlement or damages will go toward creating a free hotline staffed by experts for children facing harassment, bullying, or intimidation.

‘I Was Just So Used to It’: Black Students at Idaho High School Were Constantly ‘Degraded’ with Racial Slurs By Classmates While Staff Stood By and Did Nothing, They Say