ASHBURN, Va. (AP) — Five teens have been ordered to learn lessons about racial and religious discrimination after they spray-painted graffiti on a 19th-century schoolhouse that served black children during the segregation era in Northern Virginia.
D.C. radio station WTOP reported that the boys, all 16 or 17, must visit the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and write reports on books written by black, Jewish and Afghan authors.
WTOP also said prosecutors don’t think the vandalism of the former Ashburn Colored School last fall was racially motivated. Three of the teens are minorities.
The graffiti included swastikas and references to “white power.”
The teens also must write a research paper on hate speech and listen to an interview with a former student of the one-room schoolhouse where African-American children were taught up until the 1950s.
The school is located in Loudoun County, one of the fastest-growing counties in the state. It sits on the property of the future Loudoun School for the Gifted. Founder and Principal Deep Sran said he hopes to begin construction in April.