A video of Covington Catholic High School students covered in black body paint has hit the internet.
The Kentucky private school is already experiencing a public relations nightmare thanks to the behavior of some of its pupils at a January 18 protest. As Native American elder Nathan Phillips drummed and sang, some of the school's students, many wearing Make America Great Again hats, mocked Phillips and even chanted, “Build the wall.”
Footage from the event drew intense backlash. Now the school could soon be under fire for footage from a 2011 basketball game.
The clip shows Covington students dressed in black for a “blackout,” a tactic meant to intimidate an opposing team and facilitate a home court advantage, reports HuffPost.
The validity of the custom was questioned when observant viewers noticed a few of the students were wearing black body paint with their facial features outlined in white.
The face paint closely resembled the blackface makeup used to mock Black people when minstrelsy was popular. Additionally, students can be seen yelling at Black players from the opposing team.
VIDEO: https://t.co/pFgrJA1N0Q From :06 to 1:06 you can see a teacher or coach of #CovingtonCatholic leading the teens in a chant– several of the Covington students are in blackface. At this game, black players on the opposing team were verbally abused. pic.twitter.com/gqyNRUjYXD
— Marcus Henry Weber (@MarcusHWeber) January 21, 2019
The user who posted the video, Marcus Henry Weber, claims the school deleted the clip after he flagged it on Twitter:
The original video was deleted (of course) by Covington Catholic, but I saved it and re-uploaded it HERE: https://t.co/lEAxRqFyRC
— Marcus Henry Weber (@MarcusHWeber) January 22, 2019
Arlen Parsa, a filmmaker who posted his thoughts on the school on Twitter, claimed Covington has been deleting much of the internet content that might be used to paint it as a racist institution:
#CovingtonCatholic's race problem is not limited to the almost all-white student body however.
Before the school hastily removed its teachers directory yesterday, I reviewed it.
Every. Single. Teacher. Is. White.
(at least of those 80 listed yesterday before they took it down) pic.twitter.com/HTVcK9xTBk
— Arlen Parsa (@arlenparsa) January 20, 2019
Covington was closed on Tuesday; school officials said this was because it has received violent threats, according to NBC.
“All activities on campus will be cancelled for the entire day and evening,” school principal Robert Rowe said in a letter to parents. “Students, parents, faculty and staff are not to be on campus for any reason. Please continue to keep the Covington Catholic Community in your prayers.”
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