A Missouri school has suspended the teacher of a student who wore a Ku Klux Klan outfit to class but insists that the student was not acting “in a discriminatory way” because it was part of a group project.
On Nov. 9, an unnamed student at Poplar Bluff High School came to school dressed in the unofficial wardrobe of the Trump administration—a Ku Klux Klan outfit—according to KFVS. Apparently, the costume was part of what the Poplar Bluff School District says was a history class group project on constitutional amendments. The news station added:
Superintendent Scott Dill said the groups were in costume, representing different historical facets of the assigned amendments...
One group was assigned the 15th Amendment—“ensuring the rights of citizens to vote would not be denied or abridged by the United States on account of race or color. As part of the presentation, students discussed the adverse historical actions of certain organizations that actively engaged in the suppression of voter rights.”
There’s always that one person in the group project who does all the work. I bet the students in the group who were supposed to dress as a lynch mob didn’t show up. But students in the class took photos of the KKKid and uploaded them to social media, completely ignoring the group member in the sheriff’s uniform who was dressed as Bull Connor.
The photo went viral after Brianna Anthony, a 2017 graduate of Poplar Bluff High, posted a screenshot of a Snapchat video on Facebook.
“It was posted on Snapchat by several people,” Anthony told the Springfield News-Leader. “I immediately screenshotted it. I know for a fact it was taken by someone who was there.”
The school immediately suspended the teacher of the history class, who issued a statement apologizing for not addressing the issue.
“I want to sincerely apologize for the pain and negative attention that I have brought to our classroom, school, and community,” the letter began. “I made a mistake on Friday during our skit assignment,” the teacher continued:
I let a student wear an inappropriate costume that was unacceptable and hurt many people’s feelings. As the professional in the room, I should have known better. I am sorry.
It is my job to ensure my students feel safe in class and at school. Because of my lapse in judgment, many of you were hurt and felt uncomfortable. I never wanted that to happen...
I am so sorry for making this mistake, and I hope that you can all forgive me and we can work through this together. I understand that healing and forgiveness take time, and I am absolutely okay with that.
However, there are still several questions that are left unanswered, including:
- Where does one buy a KKK outfit? Was it custom-made? Did he get it from Alt-Right Amazon? Does the robe come with the cape, or are they purchased separately? I bet he got that shit from Etsy. People on Etsy will make anything for $19 plus $6.95 shipping and handling. A quick aside: I understand shipping costs, but why do we pay for “handling”?
- Why is he wearing the whole hood in class? When I was in school they wouldn’t allow us to wear hats inside.
- Did he wear this to all his classes or did he change in the bathroom? I know this is Jeff Sessions’ favorite outfit, but why didn’t anyone nip this in the bud when they saw the Klansman walking down the hallway?
- What’s up with white parents? I can’t see the kid’s face, but I’m positive this kid is white because white kids do shit like build pipe bombs in the basement and have notebooks filled with elaborate plans for a school shooting. Black mothers don’t allow you to close the door in their house until you start paying rent—that’s her room!
- Seriously, what’s up with white parents? Didn’t they notice anything when the kid wanted to go to KKKMart? Did they see the charge for “1 medium Klan robe” on the credit card statement?
Even though the school suspended the teacher for allowing someone to wear a racist costume, the school district said they do not believe the student intended to be racist.
“We, as a school district, are fully cognizant of the negative historical implication, and strong emotional response that this mode of dress may create,” read a statement from the school district, adding that it was investigating the incident and would take steps to make sure it is “providing age-appropriate, historical context on these critical issues in a socially relevant and culturally responsible manner.”
Thank God the kid didn’t “intend” to be racist.