The valedictorian of Middletown High School North is receiving a lot of attention on social media after posting a video on Instagram about the discrimination she has endured during her time in high school.

“For some of you, graduation may represent your academic achievements, your athletic achievements...but for me, graduation represents the fact that I survived years of racial discrimination,” Jada Tulloch said in the video.

Tulloch asked her peers to worry less about having a graduation ceremony amid the COVID-19 pandemic and more about combating racial discrimination.

“It makes a lot of people uncomfortable to talk about these things, but I think the conversation is what’s so important,” she says.

The video has received nearly 18,000 views and more than 900 comments in just three days. Some of the messages are very supportive. But others are suggesting that Tulloch should no longer speak at graduation. One person wrote, “She’s going to Columbia University. How bad could her life really be?”

“The negativity is not getting to me in the slightest because I have so many people supporting me,” Tulloch says

The Middletown Public School superintendent released a message to the school community that reads in part, "We support our Middletown High School North valedictorian, Jada Tulloch, in using her voice to share her perspective and speak out against racism...I look forward to listening to her speech at graduation on June 18."

“Although this video has to do with me and my experiences, it’s so much greater than me and this entire movement is so much greater than me and that’s what’s important,” Tulloch says

The senior also says that representation matters.

“For students to grow up without knowing that it’s OK to be the way they are, that’s really disheartening,” she says

Tulloch says that it is important to address these issues from an educational standpoint.