When news of her decision to step down as Student Body President at the exclusive Lawrenceville Prep School in Princeton, New Jersey after appearing to mock her white male classmates hit national news, Maya Peterson became the subject of a hot debate about diversity in Prep schools and “reverse” racism. She posted the above photo to her personal Instagram account with the captions like #confederate, #romney2016, #peakedinhighschool, #nwa and #ilikerap. The photo wasn’t merely mocking, it was a commentary on the exclusive culture of Lawrenceville Prep which Peterson felt was often hostile to minorities. Many students responded by cyberbullying Peterson and even going as far as to circulate nude photographs of her. The story soon spread, going far outside of the Lawrenceville community.
Peterson, who will be staring her freshman year at Wesleyan University to pursue a degree in Creative Writing and Sociology, recently penned an essay for Time Magazine titled, “Why Lawrenceville Prep Needs a Jolt of Diversity”, in which she addresses some of the cultural problems at exclusive school.
I was never called a nigger at Lawrenceville. Once a faggot. A few times a dyke. A trans friend was once called a “tranny” and a cross-dresser. The majority of the discrimination at Lawrenceville is subtle, almost unnoticeable unless you really pay attention to the anti-minority sentiments that linger in the minds and show themselves in the words of a few vocal Lawrentians.
Read the entire essay at Time.com.