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High School Idiots Spell Out Racial, Homophobic Slurs During Class Photo Session

It never fails. Every year, high school students gather for class photos. And every year, at some high school, somewhere, some conglomeration of assholes lines up to do something stupid, offensive and racist. Suggested Reading The Root 100 – 2021 The Root 100 – 2022 The Root 100 – 2023 Video will return here when…

It never fails. Every year, high school students gather for class photos. And every year, at some high school, somewhere, some conglomeration of assholes lines up to do something stupid, offensive and racist.

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Stefon Diggs and Cardi B Viral Boat Video Prompts Response from Patriots Coach

This time itโ€™s at Escondido High School in Southern California, where students were given T-shirts with letters on them to spell out approved words for their class photos last Friday.

You know where this is going.

According to ABC 10 News, a group of nine students thought it would be hilarious to take their own separate set of photos where they lined up to spell slursโ€”according to their social media accounts, where (you guessed it) the photo were promptly shared, the students spelled out โ€œfaggotโ€ and โ€œnigger.โ€

Escondido Union High School District confirmed that the photos posted online were real, posting a statement on Facebook (h/t Huffington Post) calling the photos a โ€œpoor decisionโ€ that โ€œis not aligned with Escondido High Schoolโ€™s culture, values or history.โ€

Current students and alumni were not amused about the photos.

โ€œIt hurt me personally,โ€ Escondido High School graduate Cade Pannell told ABC 10. โ€œWhether they thought it was a joke, itโ€™s not. And if you do think itโ€™s a joke, I think thatโ€™s very ignorant of you.โ€

In the statement, Escondido Principal Adriana Lepe-Ramirez emphasized that the high school โ€œprides itself on inclusion and embraces diversity.โ€ Racial minorities make up 82 percent of the student body at Escondido High, according to U.S. News and World Report. School officials say โ€œappropriate disciplinary actionsโ€ will be taken against the students, though itโ€™s unclear at this point what those actions will be.

Of course, unless thereโ€™s actual consequences for the studentsโ€™ actions, all that embracing of diversity is just lip-service.

According to the Huffington Post, the Escondido Police Department says the high school received an anonymous โ€œthreat of violenceโ€ during the schoolโ€™s Friday football game they believe was tied to photos. The game wasnโ€™t cancelled, and the event concluded without incident.

Straight From The Root

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