While we're at it, we also need to talk about gender at #CovingtonCatholic . I have heard from members of the community there is an ingrained sexism problem at the school (which refers to women as "females"). Cov students have also harassed gay students at other schools.

This is 73 year old Bishop Foys, in charge of the diocese that the school is a part of. One former student told me he's uncomfortable with women and girls getting leadership positions at his schools. There was also a story about a rapist that was allowed to "walk" graduation.

As soon as the video surfaced, people started trying to ID the kids. Hard to watch that video & not feel like they're acting like a mob. Here's what I realized: if you try to ID kids to ruin their lives you're acting like a mob too. And there are more of us online than of them.

I think #CovingtonCatholic as a school community needs to do some soul searching about gender, bullying, homophobia, and especially race. They're going to need some space to do that. Let's not be a mob like they seemed to be in that video.

One former Covington student of color who got bullied told me: "It is not the worst school on the planet and a lot of worse things could have happened. Many people do have a heart there" and added if the school had diverse teachers "Racism would most definitely not be condoned."

I talked with a person who knows the "main student" in the #CovingtonCatholic video. Turns out, the #magateen 's favorite musician was the biracial rapper Logic. Here are some of his lyrics. I think this is a good way to end this thread and give this community space to reflect.

Thanks for following along this thread and this journey. As you can probably tell, a lot of research and discussions with people in the community went into it. I would appreciate a retweet or two if you found any of it meaningful to you.

One final thought: Every student in America (no matter the racial composition of their school) needs to see images like this from the Civil Rights Movement. If we can spread this knowledge of our past as a country, kids today will be more aware of how their actions echo history.

I or anyone else who knows the ID of the #CovingtonCatholic #Magateen could ruin his life so easily. But that won't fix the root causes of this problem. Instead, let's lift the heroes who fight for justice. Nathan Phillips (the elder) is a badass. And so is this lady.

p.p.s.- my reaction when i try my best to write a thoughtful thread about examining race relations holistically and not getting too caught up on any one person... ...and then that one kid *unmasks himself* in a lengthy statement. (can y’all stop hate tweeting at me now pls?)

@arlenparsa Respectfully, this is less enlightened than you likely believed. 1) Claiming these kids’ lives would be “ruined”. Trayvon Martin’s life was ruined. George Zimmerman’s was not. Inconvenience isn’t ruin. Consequences aren’t ruin.

@arlenparsa This is supposedly an email the mom wrote to . Note quotes around the word man.

@arlenparsa His mom's name is Julie Sandmann and she works for fidelity and I'm about to drop his name 💕 hope you enjoyed your pat on the back Arlen you self indulgent white supremacist sympathizer

@arlenparsa It looks like you watched the same video I did, which showed that the ' #magateen ' was silently standing among the others grinning when Nathan Phillips walked up to/into him. He looked uncomfortable v.quickly and may not have been aware that Phillips was trying to pass.

@arlenparsa My question is who allowed the kids to wear the MAGA hats, t-shirts etc? There was an agenda before the students got there.

@arlenparsa Your a dum shit

@arlenparsa This was a bad ass thread. Thank you

@arlenparsa As someone who's been in public schools his whole life, they fucking suck

@arlenparsa I will

@arlenparsa Blocked

@arlenparsa You've definitely earned a follow. Great thread. We're Catholic but my boys go to public school. I teach my boys respect others and not to think they're better than others.

@arlenparsa Sums up your motivation perfectly. Orange Boogeyman, I don't like folks with money, keep the clicks coming because I want to be one of the folks with money.

@arlenparsa 1. Yes Trump sucks. 2. Public schools actually suck cause they’re underfunded. 3. You think you thread was thoughtful but maybe you’ve done some soul searching? You’re just part of the mob. You’re not special. Maybe wait next time.

@arlenparsa Public schools rock ?