Wake Forest student seen in fight claimed to be victim of racial bullying

The video, posted to Instagram on Friday, shows Micah Speed, a black student, pull a white student to the ground before a teacher steps in to break up the altercation.

Wake County district officials say they are investigating, but many students believe Speed was wrongly punished.

Speed said at the time of the altercation, he'd been the target of racial slurs and derogatory comments for two months.

"Actually, that day he told me I should name my kids crack head and convict because that's what they would grow up to be," he said.

Speed said the other student threatened to harm his mother and his sister and followed him out of the classroom. Speed said he let the other student walk away, and the other student responded by using a racial slur.

"A lot of people know me and know that I like to avoid confrontation," Speed said.

Yolanda Speed, Micah's mother, said she does not condone fighting, but wants teachers and administrators to be held accountable.

"People are under the assumption that it was ok for him to put his hands on that young man. It was never ok," Yolanda Speed said. "But you have to understand that there is always going to be a reaction to an action."

A petition circulating online defends the student who pulled the other to the ground and demands alleged bullying and racism be addressed by the school.

"At the end of the day, [Micah] has to take responsibility for what he did, but then when you continue on to have these issues going on in a classroom and it's not taken care of, that's my problem," Yolanda Speed said.