Santa Barbara students and parents protest district's response to blackface TikTok

Mixed · 2Four San Marcos High School students posted a TikTok last month in which they darkened their skin to mimic an AI-generated image of four Black children. 1 2 Mixed · 2Principal Dare Holdren told families the school had "instituted consequences" for the students, who "portrayed blackface". The coverage does not say what the consequences were. 1 3 Mixed · 2On Tuesday, 13 October, students from San Marcos and Dos Pueblos high schools walked out of class. That evening, students, parents and community members spoke at the Santa Barbara Unified School District board meeting. 1 2

Right · 1Parents held signs at the meeting, including "Don't be a bystander, stop ignoring racism". Some questioned why it took about two weeks to notify them. Leticia Forney Resch of Healing Justice Santa Barbara said images had been circulating among students for a week and a half. 3 Centre · 1Superintendent Dr. Hilda Maldonado told the meeting that the incident "was racist and harmful" and that she was "committed to listening". She said the problem reaches beyond one incident. 1 Centre · 1Speakers said the blackface post was part of a recurring pattern. A student named Yeko said a student with tardies gets lunch detention while someone who posts blackface does not. Another student, Sedenya, said there is "hardly any acknowledgment or punishment" of racism. 1

Mixed · 2Maile Schoonover of the Santa Barbara Fund cited other reported incidents, including allegations that a Black student was physically assaulted, racial slurs and monkey noises in hallways, and the N-word written in a Black educator's classroom. The New York Post, citing the Santa Barbara Independent, reported that a substitute teacher read the N-word aloud during "Of Mice and Men" last year after being told not to, and was removed from campus. 1 3 Right · 1The New York Post reported that the local NAACP had previously criticised the district for failing to establish protocols to respond to racist incidents. NAACP Santa Barbara President Connie Alexander wrote that principals need "clear guidance". 3 Right · 1The photo was taken in an African American studies classroom. Ethnic studies teacher Abel Gonzalez said, "When black students are harmed, every student is harmed." 3

Centre · 1The board gave no official responses that night because of the number of speakers. Members pledged to discuss the issue at a further meeting, and speakers said they wanted a response that addressed the wider pattern as well as the blackface incident. Newsweek said it had contacted the district for comment. 1