Darius Ivory is the only black student at Park High School.
Ivory transferred to the school about a month ago from Houston where he grew up seeing Confederate flags flying. He never felt threatened by the symbol. It's stood more for Southern pride than racism, he told the Billings Gazette.
"I don't see it as a bad thing," Ivory told the Gazette. "I'm not a slave, and it takes way more than flying a flag to faze me."
But because of increasingly caustic behavior including shouted threats, shoving matches and other disturbances the school banned the display of the Confederate symbol on school property.
"They were more mad than I was, which I appreciate," Ivory said about his classmates sticking up for him, according to the Gazette. "They aren't tolerating the racism, and I respect that."
The controversy started because of a rumor that a 17-year-old student made threats about hanging Ivory and dragging him behind his truck. Administrators confronted the student who denied the threat but said he did make negative comments about Ivory.
"He comes out and said he doesn't like black people and is racist," Tim Gauthier, vice principal at the school, told the Gazette. "In my 20 years as an educator, I'd never heard someone admit they were racist."
A couple of weeks later the student drove to school with a Confederate flag on his truck. Another student removed the flag and yet another student burned it. The student who set it on fire could face charges, including theft and destruction of property.
The disruption led to the ban, Gauthier told the Gazette. The student who brought the flag to school was also suspended.
Gauthier talked to Ivory about the student and the rumored threat.
"He asked me to meet with the boy who made the comments, Gauthier told the Gazette. "They ended up talking for over an hour. It was interesting. I mean the student didn't pull any punches; he was clear about what he thought."
The one-hour meeting ended with the boys giving each other a hug, according to NBC Montana.
Ivory has continued to spend time with the student. The boy dropped out after his suspension but showed up to school Monday. Ivory wasn't bothered.
"We've hung out a couple times," Ivory told the Gazette. "He is a cool kid. I like him."
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