Utah High School Allows White Students In Blackface To Win Spirit Prize

The school district has dealt with racism issues in the past, say parents

Parents of the Pine View High School community in Utah have condemned the awarding of a spirit prize to two white students wearing blackface.

According to Essence, the students donned the racist attire during the Utah school’s “blackout” football game on Aug. 23. However, instead of reprimanding them, the school celebrated the students for the effort. Photos of the students went viral on social media, leading to the backlash.

After calling attention to the insensitivity of the act, some parents told local news outlets about the blackface. Edward Wright, a Black parent whose daughter is a senior at the high school, stated that claiming ignorance does not resolve the issue.

“You could have tapped these young men on the shoulder, whispered in their ear and let these young men know the significance of this,” said Wright to 2KUTV. “We all make mistakes, but in this age of social media and always being connected, there’s just no way people didn’t know. I’m a firm believer that ignorance is not an excuse. You do it in the moment the issue arises. You don’t wait. I feel like this was a missed opportunity to educate.”

Wright noted that racism is prevalent throughout Pine View and shared that some of his 11 children have faced discrimination in the Washington County School System. According to Data USA, white people make up over 82% of the area’s population.

Wright added, “I have other children that attend the schools here and they’ve been called the n-word. We’ve had to go talk to principals about issues at school.”

Witnessing the instances of racism, other parents have created programs to educate students and faculty about how racism perpetuates. Stacy Fletcher, a former parent in the district, also withdrew her child from the local schools after years of racist bullying.

“This is when we step forward and lean into it. What about that was harmful? How can I educate myself about Black face? Don’t ask a Black person to educate you on Black face. You can Google it if you don’t understand. It is important to educate yourself,” said Fletcher on this matter.

Moreover, Steve Dunham of the Washington County School district admitted that they must do better to prevent these instances.

“Whenever an instance like this comes up, it immediately shows us where we are weak and where we can do better,” Dunham said. “We are going to step in and try to reinforce some things with all of our full-time educators, all of our part time educators and all of our staff, so we can feel like we’ve done the very best we can.”