School apologizes for blackface

SHERWOOD PARK, Alta. — An Alberta school division has apologized after a staff member at a Christian school wore blackface while dressed up as a member of the British band Spice Girls.

Elk Island Public Schools said in a statement Monday that it is taking immediate action with the employee to address her conduct.

“We do not condone behaviour that would be offensive or hurtful to any student, employee or member of our school community,” said the division.

“In the days ahead, EIPS will seek out resources in order to further educate employees, both at this school and throughout the division, about the need to be respectful of all races and cultures.

“It is our intention to ensure that an incident of this kind is not repeated.”

A screen capture of a photo on Twitter shows a woman wearing dark face makeup while dressed up as Mel B, otherwise known as “Scary Spice” with the 1990s all-girl band. She is standing with other adults posing as celebrity judges in a talent event at Strathcona Christian Academy in Sherwood Park, just east of Edmonton.

The original tweet no longer appeared when searched for Monday.

Logger Marisa Peters, who uses the Twitter handle Stream and Stone, said she is a former student of Strathcona Christian Academy’s secondary school.

“In musical theater we were asked to fake tan and wore dark makeup to dress as Puerto Ricans for ‘West Side Story,”’ said her tweet. “Blackface has a history at this school.”

Bashir Mohamed, an activist with Black Lives Matter in Edmonton, tweeted the screen grab of the original photo as well as other photos reflecting the history of blackface and racist stereotypes in Alberta.