California student in blackface sparks outrage

Video on Facebook also shows girl using a slur

Video of a 14-year-old girl posing in blackface and using a racial slur has sparked backlash in a California community.

The videos began circulating on social media last week, the Fresno Bee reported, and school officials confirmed the girl, who has not been named, attends Bullard High School in Fresno.

“Our community is grappling with a jarring incident of racial insensitivity that in a matter of a few hours tonight, has spiraled,” Superintendent Bob Nelson said in a Facebook post. “Yes, a young teenager made an incredibly poor decision and posted a deeply offensive video on social media, but nothing productive comes from meeting that ignorance and racial insensitivity with hate, and that is exactly what has occurred in the resulting outrage expressed.”

Nelson added that the high school will “begin a comprehensive program addressing the cultural proficiency of our students.”

Activist Stacy Williams shared the images on Facebook, attracting hundreds of comments, with some calling for the girl to be expelled and others saying she should be given a second chance, the Los Angeles Times reported.

“Even though we’re in California, we’re a very old-time, conservative town, and this racist behavior is very embedded in our community,” Williams told the paper. “There’s a deeprooted history of white people using their power over people of color in our city with little to no accountability.”

In a fraught political climate, antiblack incidents are on the rise. Reported hate crimes in America increased 17 percent last year, according to the FBI, the third straight year that such crimes increased. Of the more than 7,000 incidents reported last year, 2,013 targeted African-Americans.

Incidents of racial bullying in K-12 schools are also up. Last April, the Utah chapter of the NAACP called for schools to address a growing number of incidents in which white students used slurs against black students.