Illinois high school student posted racist ‘slave for sale’ ad on Craigslist with a photo of a Black classmate in 2019 has been sentenced to probation and 100 hours of community service
A Illinois teen has been sentenced to probation and community service almost two years after he posted a fellow Black classmate as a “slave for sale” on Craigslist. The Naperville Central high school student, who hasn’t been identified has been sentenced to two years’ probation and 100 hours of community service by Judge Anthony Coco after entering a guilty plea to two counts of felony hate crime and one count of misdemeanor disorderly conduct, DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert B. Berlin stated in a press release.
Judge Coco ordered the teen to go through counseling that seemed fit.
“Hate crimes have no place in a civilized society and will not be tolerated, regardless of the accused’s age,” Berlin said. “Studies show that the victims of hate crimes can suffer from depression, increased anxiety, low self-esteem and insecurity among other things.”
He added, “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.”
The ad posted the student in what seemed to be a cafeteria under the words “Slave for sale (Naperville)” with the caption “Hardworking thick n—er slave. For da low.” The screenshot of the posting went viral.
Classmates approached the Black student offered a dollar to buy him. “I’ll buy you for a dollar,” one student said.
The victim’s mother, Tamara Wallace, told WLBT at the time that the two boys used to be close friends.
“It seemed like in a matter of one post, everything that I’ve taught my child about his skin color, just seemed like it was diminished,” she said.
At the time Wallace wanted more to be done. “When I heard about it, I thought the police should’ve been called,” she explained. “When the police heard about it, they felt like they should’ve been called.”
Not long after the incident, Principal Bill Wiebrook sent a letter to parents letting them that the school was “aware of a racially insensitive electronic post and worked as quickly as possible to investigate and address this with the students involved.”
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