Is it ever acceptable to wear blackface? Apparently, in 2019, an educator thinks so. Officials from a California Christian school are apologizing after pictures of one of their white teachers dressed in African garb and rocking blackface went viral.
It appears that the teacher thought the blackface would make her presentation more “authentic.”
“Last Thursday our elementary chapel speaker dressed up as a Central African native woman in order to tell the life story of missionary David Livingston and his work in Africa in the late 1800s. In an effort to bring authenticity to her role, she wore a typical native dress and headdress,” Huffman wrote.
“I was wrong to allow the use of makeup no matter how innocent the intentions as it has offended some of my students and parents,” he wrote. “I should have anticipated that this could be offensive, and I apologized to my students and parents asking to be forgiven for hurting them.”
Huffman also told Yahoo News that he apologized to the students and their parents for what occurred.
“I wanted to assure them that I am planning future open discussions about this in our chapels and Bible classes in order to help students and staff understand each other’s sensitivities,” he wrote.
“There will be other opportunities scheduled for staff as well as teachers as we all learn from this together.”
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