A teenager from Sarasota County, Florida has left people shocked and disgusted after an incredibly racist promposal.
18-year-old Riverview High School student Noah Crowley asked his girlfriend to prom by holding up a sign which read, ‘If I was black, I’d be picking cotton, but I’m white, so I’m picking u 4 prom.’
An image of Crowley holding the sign was discovered, by other students, on the unnamed female recipient’s Snapchat. She appeared to be excited about the promposal, captioning the picture with two heart-eye emojis.
However, others within the school community have been repulsed by the sign, which has since gone viral and is now being investigated by the school district.
Riverview acting principal Kathy Wilks told parents:
[The post] was racial in nature and the administration became aware of it last night,
Many who saw the post are understandably upset with its contents as well as the subsequent commentary to the post.
Riverview High School absolutely does not condone or support the message conveyed in this post.
Wilks continued:
We are focused on ensuring that Riverview High School provides a safe and secure environment for all of our students and that all students feel welcome and understand the value that they all bring to our school community.
Our guidance counselors and administrators are available for any student who wish to speak to someone regarding the issue.
Riverview High School has a wonderful student population and we know our school will use this incident as an opportunity to have productive conversations about respect for one another.
According to WTSP, an apology is currently circulating online which is believed to have been made by Crowley:
I want to sincerely apologize if I have offended anyone with the picture going around. That was not my intention.
Anyone who knows me or ***** knows that that’s not how we truly feel. It was a completely joke [sic] and it went too far.
After reading the texts and Snapchat’s I truly see how I have offended people and I’m sorry.
According to the Herald Tribune, the president of the Sarasota chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Trevor Harvey, said:
A strong statement needs to be made to their student body that this type of behaviour will not be tolerated on any of our campuses throughout the school district, and, if so, there are going to be severe consequences,
When we see so many heightened race relations throughout our country, our district has to take a proactive standpoint to make sure that that stuff doesn’t spill off into our schools.
According to the Herald Tribune, administrators have spoken to Crowley and his parents over the phone.
It is sobering to see that in the year 2018 many people still believe making racist comments is acceptable, and although Crowley has made a full apology, the amount of commenters who ‘don’t see a problem’ with his sign is certainly concerning.
Hopefully Riverview High School will make sure students know how damaging this sort of attitude and behaviour can be.
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.