In this day in age with modern technology, anything can go viral. Any bad situation with a cop or wholesome video of a soldier returning home can reach anyone within a matter of seconds. With this almost instantaneous connection between people around the world, someone’s entire life can be made or ruined within sixty seconds. It’s been made into such an epidemic that almost everyone has seen these situations go down, whether it be positive or negative.

One major story in the news right now is a great example of the negative side of these viral videos. This particular story also shows how some of these stories continue to grow and open the world up to even more about the topic at hand.

Covington Catholic High School in Park Hills, Kentucky made quite a stir over this past week as a viral video of some of its students was released.

The school had traveled from Kentucky to Washington DC in order to take part in the March for Life. Allegedly as the boys were waiting for their bus to go home, they approached an elderly Native American Veteran and began to shout racist and insensitive phrases at him, as well as blocking him in his path to leave. This whole altercation was caught on video by a bystander.

Almost immediately, these boys were identified and ridiculed by thousands of people online. From News stories to Twitter rants, everyone got involved. No one could believe that discrimination like this was still so alive.

However, many were quick to point out that no one was truly aware of what might have really happened. Seeing as only one video at this point was being shown, many were hesitant to believe exactly what was going on. Viewers were only shown one perspective of this situation for about a minute of the time that it was going on, so not everything was shown. This video was a perfect example of a skewed viewpoint, which is used all the time by the media. The video itself did not even actually include any of the shouting of profanities, it was simply eye-witness accounts claiming that it had happened.

But, after the huge amount of backlash, more videos were released showing the whole altercation. One of these new videos started about an hour before the first one that was released. This video clearly showed a group of adults yelling at the boys, they were yelling very profane phrases and mocking their southern roots. The boys then seem to get aggravated and begin to yell back. Soon the Native American man approaches the boys, playing his drum as he walks without actually being blocked. This pretty much confirmed that the boys were not the only ones in the wrong; however, that doesn’t mean they’re innocent.

While it is never okay to ever discriminate against someone for their race or culture, many may have jumped the gun in sentencing these boys. Some boys even claimed they were receiving death threats and mounds of hate. But, after this new video evidence was shown, some people actually did apologize, seeing as the release of the video and the identification of the boys could affect them for years to come.

 

However, because of the popularity of the video, some people did a bit more research into Covington Catholic. Soon, videos of students at a school basketball game mocking an African American student in full blackface were unearthed. Obviously, this was not good for the school’s case. Some people on Twitter were quick to point out that it could have simply been this school’s version of a “black-out” theme. Even Alliance has this theme at sports games, but you never see our students completely painted black with white paint on their faces meant to look like enlarged lips and eyes. These added features are often portrayed by people trying to create “blackface,” which is extremely offensive. So, what do you think: is Covington more guilty of prejudice than ever, or do you think it might just be a misunderstanding?

If it had not been for the popularity of this video, this extra evidence weighing against Covington Catholic would probably have never been found. This is just one instance where the world can take something basic and dig deeper and deeper into it until they find exactly what they need. It happens all the time with celebrities having their offensive tweets from twelve years ago brought to light, and scandals made from deep internet stalking. It’s just another lesson about how you should respect the people around you and be careful about what you post online, or say in public. You really never know what could go viral.