A group of Flint high school students were wrapping up a college tour in Florida, on their way back to Flint, their bus broke down. They ended up spending the night at the Econo Lodge in Live Oak,
Coordinator Blake Odum says right after dinner, is when the trip took a much different and disturbing tone."It was owned by white people. And they started taking pictures of all the kids as we were walking in and out of the hotel," said student Melissa Blacque. "They were calling us the N word. Odum says things felt so tense that to avoid any trouble, he tried to be proactive by calling police. When police arrived, they told the group to stay in their rooms for the night.
Odum says the officer left him with a chilling message.
"The officer pulled me to the side and said, 'You know, I just want to let you know this area right off the interstate, people aren't too accommodating to you all.' And he said,
'If you know what I mean.'
Dear Flint high school students, we are not all racist in Florida, here we have a saying, the further north you go the further south you are. We don't consider the panhandle part of Florida, it is more like south Georga. visit us in Tampa Bay, we have great schools, (University of Tampa, USF,
St Leo, Stetson University)
and we would never treat you that way.
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