Shelly High School recently posted pictures to facebook from a school pep rally. The pictures were quickly taken down but not before a dispute could be ignited in the community.
Students were assigned a color depending on their grade level, and seniors were assigned black. The pictures that were posted, appeared to have a few students in complete blackface with a baby doll that was spray painted black and hanging on a stick nearby.
Blackface is an offensive form of theatrical makeup, it was used by non-black performers and their purpose was to parody/impersonate racist stereotypes of Black people.
The school’s response was “The goal of Russet Olympics is to promote unity, comradery, and school spirit. We welcome and invite anyone to attend and experience, first hand, the inclusive unifying environment that takes place at this annual event. It is unfortunate that some are mischaracterizing this year’s event. It is never our intention to offend or demean. We will utilize this as a learning opportunity. We look forward to finishing this challenging year focusing on and supporting our students.”
Do you think this was all a misunderstanding, the students weren’t educated enough, or were they being racist?