Girl's Warning Gets Her Suspended

April 29, 2005 -- -- A Tennessee high school student who went public with her fears about racial tensions among her classmates has found herself the center of controversy, and she says the school tried to punish her for speaking her mind.

Administrators at William Blount High School suspended Bridget O'Neill on April 19, a day after the junior told ABC News affiliate WATE-TV in Knoxville that racial tensions had not gone away at the school. The building was locked down April 6 after a series of incidents, including the discovery of a hit list and racial graffiti on the walls.

O'Neill, a white girl who said she is friends with black students, told WATE on April 18 that she felt threatened by another student in class. She spoke to WATE off-campus after the station's camera crew was barred from school grounds.

"There's still a lot of racial tension going on," O'Neill said. "One kid actually made a sign saying that 'The South will rise again.' And that all the n*****s need to die and stuff."

She said the boy made the sign in class and hid it in his pocket before teachers saw it.

"I think it's going to continue because I've been here for three years and every year it's getting worse and worse," O'Neill said.

School officials relented at a disciplinary hearing on Thursday -- nine days after she was suspended -- and decided to allow her to return to class. O'Neill said she's behind in her school work but she'll be allowed to make it up.

She's hoping, however, that her parents will move her to another school, she said.

Principal Christy Martin refused to talk to a reporter from WATE about her decision to suspend O'Neill, both before and after the hearing.

The station's calls to the superintendent's office for comment were not returned.

O'Neill and her parents said school administrators told them that faculty and staff members had to deal with several concerned parents after her interview aired. They were told the time spent talking with those parents disrupted classes, and that was why the girl was suspended.