Birmingham church bombing<\/a> that killed four Black teenagers in 1963.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cRacism has no place here,\u201d said the Rev. Darrien K. Bolden, a Nassau County native who has pastored First Missionary Baptist for 29 years. \u201cNot in our schools, not in our churches, not in our athletic arenas, not in our classrooms. But, certainly not in the hearts and minds of our children.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bolden wondered aloud why only Black clergy were speaking out against the incident.<\/p>\n
Burns\u2019 apology on Tuesday evening, in which she stressed that the districts must be better in solving their racial divide in the near future, was seen as pandering by some in attendance.<\/p>\n
Together Eastside Coalition Inc. Vice President and 1993 Andrew Jackson alumna Latavia Harris said afterward that Burns was \u201cplaying in our face\u201d because, she believes, Burns needs to hold the adults who were inside the gymnasium on Sept. 10 accountable.<\/p>\n
The Rev. R.L. Gundy Jr., pastor at Jacksonville\u2019s Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church in Springfield, stood at the pulpit, looked Burns square in the face and made five requests for action:<\/p>\n
Ensure the students responsible for bullying, harassment, intimidation and racial harassment face discipline consistent with Nassau County School District policy.<\/p>\n
Consider suspending students who were determined to have \u201ccommitted serious bullying\u201d for up to 10 academic days.<\/p>\n
\u00a0Consider expelling students if \u201cevidence establishes that an individual organized, initiated, led or deliberately escalated particularly egregious conduct.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hold conversations with Jackson players to determine the facts. Hold separate conversations with Fernandina Beach High volleyball players, coaches, Athletic Director Michael Woodard, as well as administrators, game officials, parents and adult witnesses to determine the facts.<\/p>\n
Investigate the response of Woodard as well as other coaches and administrators who were in attendance.<\/p>\n
None of the Tigers volleyball players were on site for Tuesday\u2019s community meeting. Jackson was back on the court against Global Outreach Charter Academy in Jacksonville.<\/p>\n
Reather Bennett attended the Sept. 10 match. Her son and nephew are students at Fernandina Beach High. Both were within 20 feet of the students who held the melanated baby in the air, she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bennett echoed the calls for accountability and believes Woodard should be fired for not addressing the students\u2019 conduct immediately after it happened.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI would like to see those students held accountable,\u201d Bennett told Jacksonville Today on Monday evening. \u201cI would like to see the (athletic director) held accountable for their actions. \u2026 I\u2019m glad the light is shining and the veil is uncovered. It\u2019s been like this for a long time. They turn a blind eye to any type of racism.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Rev. Bernard Thompson has lived in Nassau County for all 73 of his years. He is a Fernandina Beach High graduate who later spent 35 years working in Nassau Schools. Thompson said he believes his school district is the \u201creigning and defending champions\u201d of systemic racism.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone was asleep at the wheel,\u201d Thompson says. \u201cThere needs to be accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Tuesday evening, more than 200 people gathered inside First Missionary Baptist Church in Fernandina Beach to demand…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":401170,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9316,1038,113,3895,3745,116,118,117,99028,115,110],"class_list":["post-401169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-black-history","tag-duval-county-public-schools","tag-education","tag-fernandina-beach","tag-high-school-sports","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-jaxtdy1","tag-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401169","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401169"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401169\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1000004668-1024x576.webp\")
Nassau County Superintendent Kathy Burns listens during a Sept. 15 community conversation following a volleyball match incident at Fernandina Beach High School on Sept. 10. Burns apologized and stressed the district must be better in solving its racial divide in the near future. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today<\/p>\n