Yearbooks recalled to remove ethnic slur

SAN DIEGO — A racial slur inadvertently printed on the cover of the Black Mountain Middle School yearbook sent campus employees scrambling this week to recall the students’ copies and scratch off the offensive word.

The slur was spotted by some eighthgraders who received the yearbooks Monday. Almost all of the 1,000 copies were collected Tuesday by school workers, who spent a few hours scratching off the word, said Christine Paik, director of communications for the Poway Unified School District.

The cover features the phrase “Looking for Adventure” emblazoned over a 19thcentury map of northern San Diego County. The design was intended to reflect the yearbook’s theme of travel and adventure.

What the yearbook staff didn’t notice when selecting the map, however, was that a long-since-changed road name included a racial epithet for blacks.

Darlene Willis, executive director of the Concerned Parents Alliance, said she was disappointed to learn of the issue, but pleased with the district’s quick response.

“The majority of our families are black students,” said Willis, who was a little torn herself about what to do with the books. While part of her wanted them reprinted, she said, she understood the move would have been costly to the district and caused a delay for students.

The offensive word was on a road named after Nate Harrison, a pioneer and freed slave who lived on Palomar Mountain from about 1850 until his death in 1920.