Columbia, SC (WLTX) - Seventy years ago our state executed the youngest person in the country. Thursday students at Ridge View High School held a seminar to raise awareness about the case.
George Stinney, a black boy, was just 14 years old and he was convicted for killing two white girls in Alcolu.
"We believe that the conviction of George Stinney, who was only 14 years old and black, was an example of racial profiling," said Kiana Sweatt a student at Ridge View.
When students in the Scholar Academy at Ridge View High School learned about the story for the first time last year they were outraged.
Nicole Walker is the director and thought the assignment would be a onetime project; but she quickly learned that her students wanted to do more.
"When they got a hold of that they were passionate immediately and they knew from the start that they were not just going to read this article and move on with their lives. Particularly because it was a child their age and it spoke to them," said Walker.
Students like Sweatt wanted to bring awareness to the story and educate her peers about racial profiling in the past and how it still exists still today.
So they used a resource that they're the most comfortable with now.
"We decided to make websites, and twitter accounts and get people informed that way," said Sweatt.
The students held a seminar for their classmates, talking about the Stinney and more recent cases where racial profiling played a factor in the death of black men.
Stinney was found guilty by an all white jury after just 10 minutes of deliberation.
"I have a younger brother that is 14 years old now and its really hard to look back and think that could have been him and especially because we live in South Carolina it was the worst in the nation. So its hard for us to see but its also effective to make us want to do even more."
Aliyah Harrell says the yearlong research has given her a better understanding of the past.
"I know I heard stories but seeing the video and learning more and more about the case, it became much more real," said Harrell.
The decision to clear Stinney of any wrongdoing is up to a judge to decide.
Despite the pending decision, Walker is proud that her students took a stand for something they believe in.
"I feel that racial profiling is an issue that speaks to all of us because we can look at history and see examples of it still occurring today," said Walker.
