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ANNA, Ill. (WSIL) – 16-year-old Rayshaun Cannon’s voice was shaking as he recounted a conversation he had with his manager in May.
The now junior student at Anna-Jonesboro Community High School says it started about two months ago when students started calling it racial slurs.
“I was called the ‘word n’,” Cannon said. “[Teachers] wouldn’t do anything about it. They just said to try to stay away as best you can. “
On May 5, Cannon said he went to the school principal and football coach Brett Detering to voice his complaints.
“He told me since we’re both purebred it doesn’t matter and only two weeks left,” Cannon said. “After he told me I felt worthless. I felt like no one would help me.”
Cannon secretly recorded the 19-minute conversation with Detering. Cannon shared the recording with his father, who then called the school.
The next day, Cannon was called into the principal’s office. The special education student says he asked to call his parents.
“They didn’t let me do it. So they left me there in tears,” Cannon said. “They took my phone illegally, didn’t let me leave the office until I gave them my phone. They tried to browse it.”
Rayshaun says that at this time, her father Roger arrived at school. Roger says he was angry with the way his son was treated and started yelling at administrators.
“What father wouldn’t be upset when two grown men drag their 16-year-old son into an office and intimidate and threaten him until he cries?” Roger said.
The school sent Rayshaun a two-day suspension notice on May 7. School officials wrote that Rayshaun violated the school’s registration policy. The letter also contained a line from the Illinois eavesdropping law.
Roger says the school threatened to file a felony complaint if the family used the recording against Detering. Roger thinks it’s a bullying tactic to silence them.
On May 17, the school board sent Roger a letter banning him from school-sponsored events for a year. Roger then called Linda Flowers, president of the Carbondale NAACP.
“You can’t say it’s good for this kid because you don’t know how this kid or any kid or how any adult is going to internalize [racial slurs]”said Flowers.
The civil rights group is currently investigating allegations of racism against Detering. He plans to collect evidence from the school board and forward it to the Illinois NAACP.
“For years and years, we assume that the adult or the person in power is the one telling the truth,” Flowers said. “We will see.”
During a closed-door session, Flowers spoke to Aalayah Alexander-Vaughn, 18, a former high school student.
Alexander-Vaughn left AJCHS in 2020 after saying students repeatedly called it racial slurs. During the first incident, she says Detering spoke to the student, who then apologized.
But in subsequent offenses, Aalayah said Detering offered to change classes in order to avoid contact with students who were making racist remarks. Aalayah felt the option was unfair and dropped out of school.
“They whitewash everything and we, as people of color, don’t have the opportunity to experience our culture in the classroom,” Alexander-Vaughn said. “What are you expecting? I am black in a predominantly white area. “
Meanwhile, Rayshaun prepares to enroll in the Marines after his first year, following in his great-grandfather’s footsteps.
Roger hopes the investigation will lead to Detering’s dismissal. Roger thinks this could be a big step towards diversity in school and eliminating a culture of racism.
“I can never understand how [racism] makes [Rayshaun] feel because I’m white, just like every employee of this school and every member of the board of directors of this school, ”Roger said.
“They are all white. So they don’t and will never be able to understand what these children are feeling.”
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