A California eighth-grader was suspended after allegedly wearing blackface face paint to a football game, although the paint did not cover his forehead, nose, and most of his chin.
It is more likely that the student was wearing face paint commonly worn by athletes and fans.
The student was suspended for two days and is prohibited from attending future athletic events.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) sent two letters to Muirland Middle School, saying that the punishment violated the First Amendment.
“As the First Amendment protects J.A.’s non-disruptive expression of team spirit via a style commonly used by athletes and fans—notwithstanding your inaccurate description of it as ‘blackface’— FIRE calls on the school to remove the infraction from J.A.’s disciplinary record and lift the ban on his attendance at future athletic events,” the organization wrote.
“You did not indicate that anyone complained about J.A.’s face paint or that it caused any sort of disruption,” the group added. “Similarly, the suspension report says only that J.A. ‘painted his face black at a football game’ and lists his alleged offense as ‘Offensive comment, intent to harm.’ Yet J.A.’s non-disruptive, objectively inoffensive face paint was constitutionally protected expression.”
The student’s father told Cal Coast News, “He had a fun, great night without any trouble.”
Read the letter below:
