Idaho high school students seen in blackface with baby doll painted black hanging from stick
An Idaho high school posted photos from its yearly Russet Olympics, the schools competitive take on homecoming according to KTVB 7. The photos were taken after some students seemed to be in blackface, with one student in particular seen carrying a baby doll painted black hanging from a stick.
Shelley High School students were asked to dress in clothes associated with their grade level Brennen Kauffman at the Idaho Falls Register reported. The majority of the school’s senior class wore black clothes, and three seniors were seen with their faces painted in black paint. There were quick backlash to the social media posts showing a student in blackface. However, there were some people defending the students.
Since the backlash the school has released a statement reads, in part:
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.
Keeleigh Sheri, a Shelley High School graduate in 2019, told the news station her first reaction after seeing the photos was “Oh no.”
Sheri was one of three Black students in her entire graduating class and seeing photos of students in what appears to be black face was hard to take. Sheri says she “wants to” believe what happened came from a place of ignorance, not hate.
“I want to believe that it was just something stupid that they did. Shelley seems to just kind of go out of its way to ignore whatever’s going on,” she said. “I kind of just feel like it was just tone-deaf. Why didn’t anyone stop it?”
Sheri, who now attends BYU-Idaho, says the blame for what took place falls on the school for allowing it.
The NAACP Pocatello chapter released a statement concerning the incident.
“We do not know if the students were aware of the meaning of wearing ‘blackface.’ If they did, they should be ashamed and apologize. What we do know, is that responsible adults at the event should have known and counseled the students that what they were doing was inappropriate. We also know that photos of the students should never have made it on to the school’s Facebook page,” the group wrote, in part.
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