A Miami preschool is under fire for an insensitive Black History Month lesson.
Local 10 News reported parents of children enrolled at Studio Kids @ Little River are outraged after kids were seen in blackface. Parents said pictures were posted on the school’s messaging app with the caption, “Black History Month.”
The kids in the picture, some are as young as two years old, were dressed as construction workers, police officers and in other costumes.
Courtney Politis, parent of a one-year-old student, said the school should have known better. “You’re a certified, established institutions, you should know better,” Politis said, according to CNN.
“I mean, ignorance on – about racism in 2023 is no longer ignorant, in my opinion.” Politis claimed she immediately texted the pictures to
the school’s owner. According to Local 10 News, Politis said the owner was confused and not apologetic. “I’m like, this is racist! And she proceeds to respond back with, ‘I’m sorry? I don’t understand?’”However, after meeting with the director, identified by CNN as Patricia Vitale, Politis said her tone changed drastically. Close to 50 parents contacted the center regarding the incident. “Her tone? A 180-degree change. Super apologetic,” Politis said.
The history behind blackface goes back many years. The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture explained
minstrel shows started in the 1830s. White performers used burnt cork or shoe polish on their faces to mimic enslaved Africans on Southern plantations. The performances were used to characterize blacks as “lazy, ignorant, superstitious, hypersexual, and prone to thievery and cowardice.”Since the incident at the Miami-based preschool, parents, including Politis, have been pulling their children out. She
said she can’t trust the teachers or administrators with the kids anymore “I thought we would have more time before these sorts of things or racism or microaggressions would have to be experienced by our children,” she told CNN. “So the fact that you can’t, I feel like I can’t protect my children from what’s happening is probably the most disappointing and upsetting of all of this.”