Every year, a child finds himself in a heap of trouble for a racist promposal sign, and this year is no different.

Florida teenager Noah Crowley was in the center of controversy recently when he used a racist sign to ask a girl to prom, reports The Huffington Post.

“If I was black, I’d be picking cotton, but I’m white so I’m picking u 4 Prom?” read the sign.

His date posted the picture with heart emojis as the caption, but others were not amused. The picture blew up on social media, and Crowley later apologized.

“Anyone who knows me … knows that that’s not how we truly feel. It was a completely [sic] joke and it went too far,” said the 18-year-old Riverview High School student. “After reading the texts and Snapchat’s [sic] I truly see how I have offended people and I’m sorry.”

Anton Kernohan, one of Crowley’s classmates, said the sign is proof of a larger issue.

“But I think it is actually important that this issue occurred on some level,” he told The Herald Tribune. “It shows that racism is still alive and well in our society, and it shows that racism is still alive in my generation and it is something that we as the youth will have to continue to fight against.”

Riverview High School is investigating the incident and sent a robo-call to parents on Monday:

“We want to make everyone aware of a student’s social media post that has caused a very concerning situation,” the voicemail iterated. “It involves one of our seniors and his ‘promposal’ to another student.”

“It was racial in nature and administration became aware of it last night,” the message continued. “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.”

The school district also released a statement:

“Although this message is one student’s opinion, we take the matter of racial relations and school safety seriously, and we look forward to working with our students and these outside groups to have a meaningful and informative dialogue and expanded curriculum related to this important national topic,” it said.

The district has not decided if it will take disciplinary action against Crowley.

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