In the town of Latta, South Carolina, two white twin sisters and cheerleaders at Latta High School, Hailey and Hannah, have found themselves at the center of a storm of hate, simply for taking a friendly group photo with Black football players from an opposing team.
The photo was completely innocent.
According to their friend and coworker Allison Hamilton, the other team actually asked the twins to take the picture after a game.
It was nothing more than good sportsmanship. But that didn’t stop a wave of vicious bullying from classmates, strangers, and even some adults in the community.
Allison Hamilton broke her usual silence on Facebook to defend the girls she clearly loves like family.
In a passionate post, she wrote:
“I don’t come to Facebook about anything but this is beyond not right and I do not stand for this. These twins work with me and everyone up here loves these 2 girls. They don’t do nothing, they’re the most sweetest and kindest girls we know.”
Via Facebook
She went on to describe how the twins were being flooded with hateful messages calling them whores, telling them to “kys” (kill yourselves), saying they’re embarrassing, and making racist comments like “a white girl in a picture full of black people shows a lot about you.”
One fierce message ended with a sarcastic “I’ll pray for you” before threatening violence.
Even worse, a teacher reportedly told the girls he would go to administration to make sure they couldn’t attend another football game and might even get kicked off the cheer squad, all because of this harmless photo.
Allison didn’t hold back. She called out the clear double standard: when boys take pictures with opposing cheerleaders, no one says a word.
But when two sweet girls smile for a photo, suddenly it’s a scandal.
She demanded that Latta High School do better and warned that if anything happened to these girls, the community would not remain quiet.
The post received overwhelming support in the comments from friends, family, and parents
The twins’ mom, Michelle Carter, wrote:
“Thank you sweetie for taking up for my girls nobody else has. I’ve been to that school the last two days in a row and I won’t stop until something is done.”
Via Facebook
One of the twins, Hannah, commented: “i love you so much!!”
Another parent, Raven Godbolt, shared the post and proudly said her own daughter had been fiercely defending the twins, adding:
“Do better Latta! It’s all about good sportsmanship, not hating on 3 innocent girls for taking a picture.”
Via Facebook
JR Edens, another frustrated parent, shared it too and wrote:
“So this is what faculty turns their attention to? Random teens taking a pic with other random teens? … I’m learning every day, they don’t care about the kids. Just who their people are…”
Via Facebook
Many others called the situation embarrassing, shameful, and completely unfair.
At its core, this story is about two kind-hearted teenage girls who love cheerleading being targeted with racist, sexist, and dangerous hate, all because they smiled in a photo with Black athletes.
The fact that adults, including a teacher, appear to be punishing them instead of protecting them has left the community angry and heartbroken.
People keep asking: Why is this even a problem? Why are these cheerleaders being harassed and threatened over something so small and innocent?
Latta High School has not made an official statement yet, but parents say they are not backing down.
For Hailey and Hannah, the message from their loved ones is clear: they are not alone, and their community will keep fighting for them.
