A photo of a Center Grove High School football player with black paint smeared all over his face is circulating on social media following the school’s victory over Westfield High School in the Class 6A state title game this weekend.
The photo, taken on a team bus following the Saturday night football game, shows a white player on the team with his face and neck completely covered in black paint. The photo was originally posted by another player on Snapchat. The caption includes the name of the player wearing the black paint and says “we [sic] that team.”
Blackface, a relic of the Jim Crow-era south, is a term used for the practice of non-Black actors wearing black face paint to depict caricatures of a non-educated Black person, typically a slave or indentured servant. The actor in blackface would typically exhibit Black stereotypes as well.
School leaders are investigating the incident, Center Grove High School Principal Jeffry Henderson said in a written statement.
“(Center Grove High School) administrators are aware of an inappropriate post on social media. They are investigating the situation and taking steps to address it through the athletic department, coaching staff and student discipline policy. This student’s actions do not represent the values of our athletic program, high school or school community,” Henderson said in the statement.
Administrators are interviewing the students on the bus, and will follow the student handbook with regard to potential consequences, school officials said.
School officials sent the Daily Journal a section of the student handbook that relates to harassment, specifically ethnic, racial, sexual, religious or disability-based harassment.
“The harassment or threatening of other students or members of the staff or any other individuals is not permitted,” the student handbook says. “This includes any speech, action or electrical communication that creates a hostile, intimidating or offensive learning environment.”
The coaches on the bus were not aware of the black face paint during the school bus ride, school officials said.
“The two coaches who were on the bus were unaware until the lights were turned on in the bus when they arrived back at the high school. When they saw the eye black on a player’s face, he was made to remove it immediately. Coaches were unaware that any pictures had been taken, or social media posts had been made at the time. Some other players had mustaches, or ‘W’s’ painted on their faces, and they were all told to take it off of their faces as soon as the coaches saw it,” school officials said.
Center Grove High School head football coach Eric Moore did not respond to requests for comment.
