One thing about Black people: we will not straddle the fence regarding Black stereotypes. Looks like a principal in La Jolla, California, understood the assignment when he suspended a 13-year-old for wearing “blackface,” and he’s not even Black.
Now, the principal is being sued and ridiculed online for the punishment.
In October 2023, the 13-year-old, “J.A.,” to protect his identity due to his age, wore his version of eye black to a football game between La Jolla High School and Morse High School. However, the painted display across his face leaned hard into the blackface zone versus the light-refracting sports eye black. J.A. is a middle schooler attending a high school game.
Per the complaint, J.A.’s friend went overboard, applying dark paint on J.A.’s face, minus the forehead. The goal was to achieve a warrior spirit effect using “eye black warrior paint,” but they failed.
Hit The Principal’s Office
However, J.A.’s school’s principal, Jeff Luna, described J.A. as wearing blackface and was suspended for two days from school. Luna hit the eject button fully when he banned J.A. from attending all future school district sporting events. It was listed in the complaint as a “hate incident” with an “offensive comment” and “intent to harm.”
J.A.’s parents are clapping back and asking for an expungement of the suspension from his school record. They also want his ban from district sports events removed so he can attend future games.
The incident happened late last year, so the family might now understand how insensitive the application of 3/4 blackface is. However, the principal’s ban on games is still intact four months later, effectively Hotep savage.
The term “new year, new me” still has not reached that principal. Now J.A.’s parents want punitive damages with a hearing date for a preliminary injunction in the coming months.
The Spin Zone
According to J.A., from his early years as a child in Texas, he was used to seeing eye black and brought the enthusiasm with him to California. He was even more surprised because the team he was rooting for won.
Dog whistle alert: Fox News made J.A. tell a story about a “Black security guard” who apparently complimented him on the eye black and said “the spikes need to go higher.” A week after wearing the paint, the principal alerted J.A. and his parents that their son was suspended and banned.
“And so for them to take an innocent activity of just having, you know, going to a football game and cheering for the other team and out of nowhere, with no evidence, say that this was a hate crime is just a ridiculous leap in logic,” said Attorney Karin Sweigart, representing J.A.’s side to CBS 8 San Diego.
“He did not know what blackface was; it was a new concept to him,” she added. “So, they’re asking to have this removed from, have the suspension, removed from his permanent record, because there could be long-term ramifications.”
“There was no disruption at all on campus, there was no disruption at the game,” Sweigart said. “This was a non-event that the school turned into a hate crime. And it’s just so overboard, and so unnecessary, and you have children getting hurt in the process,” she added.
A quick perusal of ‘X’ shows a firestorm about the reprimand, and now people are taking shots at the principal.
It Is What It Is
To imagine a world where J.A.’s parents or guardians do not know what blackface is is an immense stretch. If the 13-year-old is ignorant, the adults are held accountable.
Online, others have wrapped the incident into a homogenous “woke” movement. However all that is happening here is a solid teachable moment for the parents and J.A.
There are real consequences for cultural oversights. As an emerging teenager, it took away your Friday Night Lights experience. Now do better, parents.