High school students in California made headlines after spending the day passing around a Black baby doll and defacing it, drawing accusations of racism.
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The students chronicled their abuse of the doll on a now-deleted Instagram account, naming the doll Shaniqua. Students posed for photos and videos alongside of it, including ones where they stomped on it, drew white makeup all over its face, and even drew an ankle monitor on the doll’s leg.
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“When I found out the ankle monitor was drawn, that’s when I knew it was intentional,” an anonymous senior at Salinas High School, where the incidents took place, told The Californian. “People were not doing this as a joke.”
The student’s mother, Tracy Maldonado, also said her daughter heard those same students calling kids at another school racist slurs during the jamboree event where much of the doll defacing took place. “That really threw her off and really hurt her feelings,” she said.
Maldonado wasn’t the only parent who spoke out against the incident.
“These kids feel comfortable enough to do this on campus at a game where there’s parents, where there’s staff members and other children,” a Salinas parent identified as Mercedes told KION. “And you’re going to tell me all of the staff being around and even parents, nobody saw this go on, nobody saw that there was something wrong with this.”
A petition has been started with the hopes of getting the school to address the underlying issues as well as enact consequences for the students involved.
“Schools are supposed to be a safe place for students to learn academically and respect should be taught. Students cannot learn and be in a safe environment if they’re surrounded by people who will spread hate towards them because of their skin color,” it reads.
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District officials insisted in a statement that they are “committed to maintaining a safe, positive school environment where all students, staff, parents/guardians, and community members are treated with respect and dignity,” though it is not yet clear what exact steps will be taken to address the situation.
*First Published: August 25, 2021, 7:03 am
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