Whether you like it or not, TikTok is a phenomenon. Many would argue that after Vine and musical.ly shut down, the fans flooded TikTok to fill the empty “short video” void in their souls. For four years now, TikTok has become more accepted by our society. While others see it as cringy and annoying, many people have found solace in the comedy, dance, and lip-synching videos on the platform. However, there are others on the platform who don’t really fit TikTok’s theme of creativity. The app also is home to many predators, corporate businesses, and, you guessed it, racists.

In mid-April, 2020, two seniors from Carrollton High School in Georgia made a TikTok using the popular “How To Make” format, where kids pick a popular stereotype, like theater kids, brownnosers, and others, and pour different labeled cups into a sink to signify the stereotype’s qualities. These two kids took it too far by pretending to make African-Americans (actually, that wasn’t the term they used). The cups were labeled after popular, and incorrect, African-American stereotypes and filled to the top. In fact, the most offensive stereotype cup was refilled by the teens. 

The superintendent of the student’s school, Mark Albertus, released a statement saying that the video was unacceptable and not representative of the district. “The racist behavior observed in the video easily violates this standard,” Albertus said. “They are no longer students at Carrollton High School.” 

Even with the expulsion of the two students, this is a very serious and unfortunately, trending issue. It’s really scary to see that these people have a platform where they say these kinds of things. Hopefully, their expulsions taught them a lesson. That lesson being, don’t spread hate on a platform meant to spread creativity and happiness.