Illinois High School Student Gets Probation for 'Slave' Ad of Classmate

Education

By ShaCamree Gowdy Published: October 25, 2021

Illinois High School Student Gets Probation for ‘Slave’ Ad of Classmate

A Naperville Central High School student from Illinois has been sentenced to probation and 100 hours of community service following a racist "slave for sale" ad targeting a Black classmate. (Photo Credit: Pixabay)

In Summary

A white student at Naperville Central High School in Illinois has been sentenced to probation and 100 hours of community service following a racist “slave for sale” ad he posted on Craigslist of his Black classmate.

Even though it is 2021, we are still dealing with situations like a high school student advertising his Black classmate on Craigslist as “for sale.”

After pleading guilty to felony hate crime charges stemming from a racist Craigslist ad, the Naperville Central High School student was sentenced to probation and community service, according to the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office.

While at school on November 14, 2019, the then 14-year-old freshman took a photograph of the victim, then uploaded it to Craigslist with the comment “Slave for sale (Naperville)” and an offensive racial slur, per the press release.

An investigation was launched four days later when the Naperville Police Department learned of the event and eventually identified the student as the poster of the ad.

“Hate crimes have no place in a civilized society and will not be tolerated, regardless of the accused’s age,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert B. Berlin said in a statement. “Studies show that the victims of hate crimes can suffer from depression, increased anxiety, low self-esteem and insecurity among other things. Everyone deserves the right to feel safe and welcome in our communities and my office will continue to charge and prosecute anyone, regardless of age, who engages in this type of behavior.”

Tamara Wallace, the victim’s mother, told the Naperville Sun’s Suzanne Baker in 2019 that as he walked the halls of his high school following the ad, some students taunted him and said, “I’ll buy you for a dollar.”

Wallace said her son and the student charged with posting the ad used to be close friends and teammates in junior high, but the two had a falling out and the relationship shifted completely when they got to Naperville Central.

“That just floored me. I was sad and heartbroken for my son,” she said at the time. “I thought, ‘What’s going on? How could this happen to my baby?’”