How many times must we go over this? Painting yourself space-alien green during Halloween is fine, but dressing up like Kanye West in full blackface is a no-go.
Shouldn't happen. Ever.
Nevertheless, an Alabama teacher is under fire after he and his wife dressed like the rapper and his wife, Kim Kardashian, complete with black makeup on his face and hands.
According to the New York Daily News, Heath Morrow and his wife, Shannon, are apologizing for their "error in judgment" after a photo of the couple was posted online.
In the photo, Heath Morrow, a fifth-grade teacher at Chestnut Grove Elementary School in Decatur, is wearing a red baseball cap turned backward, along with circa-2010 Kanye West-style "shutter shade" sunglasses, a blazer and a T-shirt. He is holding a sign that reads, "Kanye for Prez 2020."
The photo was initially posted on the couple's Facebook page and was shared on other social media sites, including Twitter and Reddit. The couple has since taken the photo down.
"I didn't know dressing up as a celebrity couple would cause so much controversy," Shannon Morrow wrote in a message to the Daily News on Monday. "There was no malicious intent in this costume. It's for HALLOWEEN, the one time a year it is okay."
She added, "Some of my husband's best friends are black. There was no racial intent whatsoever."
The Decatur City Board of Education met Monday to discuss the incident, according to WAFF. Decatur City Schools Superintendent Ed Nichols read a letter from Morrow, which noted that his "intentions were not malicious or directed toward any certain group of people."
"I wasn't raised or taught that way and do not raise my children that way. I see people for who they are, and my wife and I go out of our way to help anyone we can in my profession as an educator," the letter read, according to WLBT. "When deciding to dress up for a Halloween party, my wife and I made a decision based on celebrities and the political climate today."
Nichols told those gathered that he was sad that Morrow's action had taken away from the school and that the school board was looking into the incident. There was no mention of discipline planned or taken.
Read more at the New York Daily News and Mississippi News Now.