A prom photo of future policymakers from Wisconsin’s Baraboo High School Class of 2019 appears to show most of the boys, minus the one black kid on the far right, (look hard, he’s in there) giving a Nazi salute.
(Editor’s note: Despite Stephen’s assertions, not all the white boys gave the salute. Check the Chadwick McWhiteman on the front row, center. He refrained and chose to give the white power hand sign instead - Michael Harriot)
The photo showing the young Republicans club Baraboo boys has been shared online and many people are shocked. No one at The Root is shocked because we see this kind of shit daily and at this point, many of us were like, “How do you know they all aren’t placing their arms out together waiting for their trained eagles to return!”
It’s hard to get outraged at racist stupidity when all of these deplorables still have the potential to become president or Supreme Court justice. Hell this might actually have earned them an invite to the White House.
According to the Baraboo News Republic, the photo was taken outside of the Sauk County Courthouse and included about 50 students, not all of whom have their hands raised. The photo has now sparked several questions like, “where in the fuck is Baraboo, Wisconsin” and “how’d they get their own newspaper?”
Baraboo School District Administrator Lori Mueller issued a statement on social media that said school officials are investigating and added #notallwhitepeople.
The funny thing is, if the administration in Baraboo is against the boys Nazi salute then why haven’t they all come out to condemn it? Mueller declined the newspaper’s request for comment as did Baraboo High School Principal Glenn Bildsten and school board president Kevin Vodak.
Baraboo High School was placed on a “soft hold” Monday, which meant students couldn’t go off campus for lunch with approval because of the photo controversy.
The Baraboo Police Department weighed in but noted that they wouldn’t actually be doing anything since most of the young men in the photo appear to be white, are just children, come from good homes, and are loners.
“There is no place for hatred, intolerance and racism in our society,” State Sen. Jon Erpenbach said, according to the News Republic. “Unfortunately, based on what these students see coming from the White House, some of them may believe what they have done is acceptable. It is absolutely not. Leaders, from the President on down, need to condemn racism in all its forms and work toward a world where we learn from the mistakes of history.”
Democratic Governor-elect Tony Evers told the newspaper that the actions “have no place in Wisconsin.”
“As elected officials, we have a responsibility to lead by example for a generation growing up in a climate where they see this behavior condoned,” Evers said. “I will be in contact with Barbaoo officials, but we must all be clear: intolerance and bigotry must never be tolerated, in our schools or anywhere else.”
Hopefully, if the lil MAGAts see anything, they will read the tweet Auschwitz Memorial Museum in Poland, which notes:
A school board meeting is scheduled for Monday evening, but the newspaper notes that they are unsure if the photo will even be discussed.
Baraboo’s young professionals’ group is organizing a rally set for 4 p.m. outside the Sauk County Courthouse where the photo was taken.
“Our community is such a wonderful place, so let’s stomp out the negative attention that is currently being brought to it and shadow it with the love that I know this community has,” co-organizer Sherri Schaaf wrote in a message to prospective participants, the News Republic reports.