HS denies bonfire racism
Football players at an east Texas high school are under fire for burning an effigy dressed in the jersey of a black player from a rival team.
Van High School students set the blaze Thursday night as part of the school’s annual homecoming bonfire, CBS 19 reported.
Video shared on the Van Independent School District Facebook page, which has since been removed, shows crowds circling the effigy (right), hung high above brush set aflame by football players.
“Light him up!” students chanted.
The effigy, sporting a number 8 jersey, was supposed to depict a quarterback from rival Brownsboro HS.
Before footage was scrubbed from the school’s social media page, people slammed the depiction as racist.
The school district in a lengthy statement denied such allegations, noting that the “Vandal Bonfire is a longstanding tradition in Van ISD that dates back to the 1940s.”
School officials ended the bonfire in the mid-2000s after a student broke his wrist while it was being built, the statement said. The tradition resumed last year, with the fire being built by school staff.
“After videos of the bonfire posted by the district on social media following the bonfire last night, comments arose in the thread accusing the district of racism,” the statement reads.
“Historically, the number on the player’s jersey at the top of the bonfire has always been the same number as the opposing team’s best player. This is by no means a racial issue and never has been.”
School officials added they understand how it could have been misinterpreted given “the current charged social political climates.”