Teens in blackface reenact George Floyd death in online post, Colorado school says
A photo of high school students — one in blackface — reenacting the death of George Floyd is under investigation by the school district north of Denver.
The picture, which shows a Mead High School student in blackface and lying on the ground as one person kneels on his neck and another kneels on his back, was originally posted on Snapchat, The Denver Post reported.
The caption for the photo reads, “Bye bye (seniors),” according to the publication.
St. Vrain Valley School District Superintendent Don Haddad called the photo “disgusting and disturbing” in a statement Thursday.
“Yesterday, it was brought to my attention that a disturbing and disgusting social media post depicting the re-enactment of the murder of George Floyd was made by a group of students from Mead High School,” Haddad said. “We in the St. Vrain Valley Schools strongly condemn, and have no tolerance for, racism in any form and will be addressing this extremely serious matter immediately and accordingly.”
The student population at Mead High, which is in Longmont, is 72% white, 23% Hispanic and less than 1% Black, according to schooldigger.com.
Mead High School Principal Rachael Ayers confirmed they are investigating/ the matter, 9News reported.
“Yesterday, we were made aware of a highly-offensive photo taken on school grounds and posted to social media that did not reflect our school’s high standards of respect, character and inclusivity,” Ayers said.
“We take this type of conduct very seriously and have begun an investigation into the matter. If you or your student saw this social media post and would like to process any feelings it may have brought forward, our counseling staff is prepared to provide additional support.”
As of Thursday afternoon, more than 6,000 people have signed an online petition to bring attention to the “racial profiling” and “discrimination” at the high school.
“Everyone in our school represents Mead and having such students re-created a humiliating death, as they dishonor themselves is sad,” the petition states.
The controversy comes nearly a year after Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, died while in police custody, and his death sparked protests across the nation. He died after Derek Chauvin, a now-convicted Minneapolis police officer, pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes, as three other officers didn’t intervene.
Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in April and is scheduled to be sentenced in June.
This story was originally published May 20, 2021 at 5:15 PM with the headline "Teens in blackface reenact George Floyd death in online post, Colorado school says."