Students at Burnsville High School in Minnesota set off a controversy when they decided to use a terrible moment of American history to make an ill-advised prank. In a now-viral photo, a white male teen asked a fellow Black female student to a homecoming dance, using a sign to suggest the girl was a cotton-picking slave.
The Star Tribune reports:
The sign reads: “You may be picking cotton but I’m picking you. Homecoming?”
Clusters of what appear to be cotton balls are glued to the cardboard sign. A photo depicting the smiling boy, who is white, with his arm slung over the girl’s shoulder while she holds the message, sent ripples of outrage across social media, beginning with Snapchat and eventually including Instagram and Facebook. A caption on the photo says, “She actually said yes,” with a fearful face emoji.
School officials say they later learned it was meant to be a gag between friends, who were surprised about the negative reaction.
In an e-mail sent to parents on Saturday, Principal Dave Helke characterized the circulating photo as “deeply offensive” without describing it.
“I want to make it clear that the posting does not align with the values of Burnsville High School and Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District 191,” Helke wrote. “We value all students, expect all students to take responsibility for exhibiting that with their peers, and work in many ways to build up each other as a community of caring individuals. “
The unnamed boy who posted the photo to social media has since deleted and made a public apology for the offensive remark. The school district where the high school is a part of is predominately students of color according to reports.
The school’s dance is set to take place this weekend.
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Photo: screenshot/Snapchat
