Racially Problematic Homecoming Float Prompts Investigation

Updated as of 11/7/2023 at 10:15 a.m. ET

Welp, we certainly saw this coming. A school district has ordered the teachers of a Sacramento high school to go through anti-racist training after rallying behind a problematic “Cops and Robbers” homecoming float.

Bella Vista High School had recently come under fire after the top prize for homecoming floats went to the one parading a Black man dressed as a prisoner surrounded by white students dressed as cops. Following the backlash, the San Juan Unified School District launched an investigation and found unbeknownst to the students, the float was approved by the school staff after the theme was changed from “Cops and Robbers.”

In a statement to CBS, the district said sliding the float into the parade anyway was the wrong move.

Now, they’ve vowed to implement diversity and inclusion training (the good ol’ “This is Racist” PowerPoint presentations) for the majority white staff so they can understand exactly why this float was so offensive and hopefully, not make the same mistake.

The district also told CBS they plan to work more closely with the Black Student Union and other community partners to build a better support system for the Black students so that the next time they make an objection, their opinions are taken into consideration.

One would think, in 2023, there should be some consideration when touting images of incarcerated Black men. Yet, the student government at Bella Vista High School took the risk and made their Spirit Day theme “cops and robbers,” according to CapRadio. After facing backlash from students and staff, they changed it to “Adam Sandler Day.” However, a float was already prepared with the original theme and was allowed into the parade, per the report.

Bella Vista senior Dominique Edwards told the radio she was taken aback seeing the float arrive. She described seeing a young Black man in an orange jumpsuit in handcuffs with an ashamed expression. Standing behind the float, she said, were white students dressed as cops and the robbers were all Black and brown students. As blatantly inappropriate this appeared to be, the report says the school staff voted the float as the best one.

“I don’t think my school is quite aware at times because it is a predominantly white school,” Edwards told reporters.

Read more from CapRadio:

The district spent around a month investigating the race-related incident, which concluded this week.

“Appropriate actions are being taken as a result of the investigation,” the district wrote in an email. “We are working with our Black Student Union and several community partners, engaging in additional professional learning and we’ve asked that all of our schools districtwide ask themselves critical questions before deciding themes for future events and spirit days.”

The Greater Sacramento’s NAACP has gotten involved with Bella Vista High’s Black Student Union to ensure that Black students on campus are empowered.

This really is similar to another mock jail event that occurred in a Walmart. The store was hosting a fundraiser and to draw customers’ cash, they put a Black employee in an emptied ball cage with a sign asking for “bail money.”

Did the “racial reckoning” of 2020 not do enough to teach people that cop and jail jokes aren’t cool?