A local Nebraska school district has condemned a racially offensive homecoming proposal that has caused backlash on social media.
The sign was posted in a Facebook group over the weekend and showed two white teens holding the invite. The message was written with a green marker and said: “If I was Black, I would be picking cotton. But I’m White so I’m picking you for Hoco,” according to WOWT.
North Bend Central Superintendent Patrick Ningen told KETV that the proposal “makes me sick.” One of the children featured in the photo, which was taken off school grounds, attends a school in the district. Because only one of them is a student, it would be challenging to pursue disciplinary action.
“I think a lot of upset people, students, parents, staff members, you know, this is something that shouldn’t happen,” Ningen said to the news station later, adding, “I can’t discuss that at all, but just that we’ve made contact and that we have you know, we’re following our student handbook and the Student Discipline Act to the extent that we can.”
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The student’s parents were contacted by the district, which has about 586 students, the outlet reported, citing state education data. Only three of them are Black. Ningen said that the incident could be the foundation for a more significant discussion about what students post online.
“I think we could maybe even take that a step further and go into more specifics like race and that sort of thing and how this, you know, your statements, your actions can affect others in a very negative and personal way,” Ningen told KETV.
Read the full story at Atlanta Black Star.
Racist homecoming proposals have sparked outrage in different school districts across the country. For instance, according to MassLive, a New Hampshire student-athlete made the same proposal to a girl that angered the community last year. And just a few years before that, a Sarasota, Florida student created a similar proposal to ask another to prom in 2018.
The local NAACP chapter issued a statement about a solution for the Riverview High School students’ actions.
“A strong statement needs to be made to their student body that this type of behavior will not be tolerated on any of our campuses throughout the school district, and, if so, there are going to be severe consequences,” a spokesperson said in a statement to WFLA at the time. “When we see so many heightened race relations throughout our country, our district has to take a proactive standpoint to make sure that that stuff doesn’t spill off into our schools.”
