Californian NAACP leaders are blasting a Santa Barbara high school after several teen girls were spotted wearing blackface in a TikTok video, accusing the district of mishandling its response to the racist post.
School officials enforced unspecified consequences on the four teen girls, who attended San Marcos High School, but NAACP Santa Barbara President Connie Alexander said Friday the district’s response fell short.
“SBUSD has struggled to establish protocols to respond to racial incidents and execute them with humanity. Principals need clear guidance; parents and students need accessible information about district investigations and potential disciplinary actions for racist incidents,” Alexander wrote in an op-ed for theSanta Barbara Independent.
“SBUSD’s response should be transparent, and it should administer discipline equitably. Far too many Black students have been suspended for less severe infractions,” Alexander added.
The girls have not been identified. In the picture, they appear to mimic an AI-generated image of four young black boys in various poses, a trend that has since spread across TikTok.
“Meet the gc
…,” the post is captioned. The ninja emoji is known to be used as a reference to the N-word.
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San Marcos High School Principal Dare Holdren said the students “portrayed blackface” in the post and noted the school has “instituted consequences” for the four girls, according to a message sent to parents Friday.
“The racial stereotype was reported to the administration through our Safe to Speak Up system two weeks ago, and our administrative team responded promptly,” Holdren wrote.
“As the image has continued to circulate among students and has affected members of our school community, we believe it is important to address it with our broader community as well.”
The school contacted the students’ families and “are working to educate the students about the impact of their actions,” he added, writing, “Racial stereotypes are harmful and have no place in our schools.
“Regardless of intent, students need to understand the impact their words, images, and actions can have on others.”
Alexander said she expects changes in district leadership after the “mishandling of the response by school and district officials” to the post.
“The same leaders and systems keep failing. It is time for new leadership and systemic change,” she wrote.
Other racist incidents have rattled the school district in the past.
According to the Santa Barbara Independent, a San Marcos High School substitute teacher read the N-word out loud during a reading of “Of Mice and Men” last year after being told not to. The substitute was then removed from campus.
Community members exclaimed in a June 9 meeting that racial issues on campus still prevailed.
“Black students do not feel safe here, and I have personally lost friends who moved away because of it,” a student said at the meeting.
“There is only one way to view this racist incident — not two; it is simply wrong,” Alexander wrote.
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