Students wearing blackface at southern Utah football game awarded school spirit prize, parent claims

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Students wearing blackface at southern Utah football game awarded school spirit prize, parent claims

ST. GEORGE, Utah (

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) — A father of a Pine View High School student is raising concerns after two people who painted their faces ****** for a high school football game were allegedly awarded the school spirit prize.

Edward Wright, whose daughter attends

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, told ABC4 Monday that two people wearing blackface at a St. George football game were celebrated for their school spirit.

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“Instead of there being consequences and education given at the moment about how wrong it was, it was celebrated. These young men won the prize for being the most spirited in the crowd,” Wright said.

He continued to say the two males took a photo with the cheerleaders which was later put on the high school’s website. It has been taken off the site since.

“This is not the first time this is happened in the school district. It is just the first time it’s been so blatant that it can’t be ignored,” he said.

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provided ABC4 with a statement on Tuesday, saying, in part, that the district is “disheartened that this took place” and apologizing to the students and community for “any offense that was felt because of the incident.”

Many commenters on Wright’s

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post claimed it was a “*********” themed football event, and pointed out the school’s mascot is a ****** panther. The commenters wrote that this was an instance of school spirit rather than outright racism.

Wright, however, said his daughter — who is a student at the high school — was “really hurt by what happened” and claims there is more to the incident than merely school spirit.

Jeanetta Williams, the former president and a current representative of the

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, said blackface is offensive in part because of its history dating back to “the

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of the mid-19th century,” where white people would paint their faces ****** to mock enslaved ****** people.

“In past history, the purpose of blackface was mocking … turning into a figment of the white imagination for entertainment. Blackface invokes a ******* and painful history, dehumanizing ****** people,” her statement read in part.

The NAACP statement called out the high school’s cheer coach — who allegedly took the photos of the students with the cheerleaders — as well as the district’s superintendent, asking that the district use the incident as a learning experience.

“This is a time for education to the entire school and the cheer coach. We, the NAACP ask that Superintendent Richard Holmes use this egregious act to educate his district about racism and blackface,” Williams wrote. “Discrimination should never be tolerated.”

Wright is hoping there is a measure of accountability for what took place, even if it stemmed from a lack of understanding as others have claimed.

“I refuse to believe that this is just ignorance,” he said. “Even if it is ignorance, ignorance has consequences,” he said.

The school district said it is creating teams to work with school employees to help improve school “culture and climate.” The statement said the district is “committed to an ongoing process of improvement” and recognizes that it “must do more so every student feels safe and valued in our schools.”

Read the district’s full statement below:

We work hard to create a space where all students can feel safe. We are disheartened that this took place and we apologize to our students and community for any offense that was felt because of this incident. This should not have happened!

While our staff go through hours of training to prevent bullying, harassment and create a safe environment for all students, we recognize that we must do more so every student feels safe and valued in our schools.

We are creating school teams that will work with teachers and staff to help make strategic changes that will improve school level culture and climate.

We are committed to an ongoing process of improvement. This is something that we have continuously done and we will continue to do to help our students feel safe.

Weber County School District

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