After facing a ton of backlash on social media, Trinity High School in Manchester, New Hampshire has announced the expulsion of one of its students. The decision came following growing concerns about a racist homecoming proposal posted online by a white male student.
In the since-deleted post, the unidentified minor shared a photo of himself asking a female student to accompany him to the school’s event. “If I was Black, I would be picking [cotton]. But I’m white, so I’m picking you for [homecoming],” his poster board read. He colored the letters red and blue to go with the white background. Instead of using the word “cotton,” he used actual pieces. In the photo, he stood with his arm around the young lady as they smiled.
“This was a homecoming proposal done by a student who attends Trinity High School in Manchester, NH. According to students, he received only a one-day suspension and is still allowed to play sports. The school is ignoring emails and complaints,” a user wrote on Oct. 6. The post has already been retweeted over 26,000 times. One person responded, “REALLY?!? Trinity High School in New Hampshire, y’all are plain out racist. This is ugly and his parents should be ashamed of themselves, but I’m sure they’re the ones [who] taught him.”
By Saturday (Oct. 8), a statement regarding the offensive homecoming proposal was released. Dr. David Thibault (superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Diocese of Manchester) said, “The sentiment expressed in that photo has no place in our community.” He added that the claims of a “one-day suspension” while allowing the student to continue to play sports for the school were not true.
School President Nathan Stanton said, “We actually escorted the student out of the school at the end of the day, before school ended, and we met as a team and met with the diocese, and I would say within two hours, we made a decision and contacted the family.” The girl from the homecoming photo is not a student at Trinity High School.
NAACP Manchester President James McKim also offered his opinion on the situation. “I think that it’s a reflection on our culture that makes students — some students, not all, but some students — feel like that is an appropriate kind of statement to make or remark to make,” he said.
See related tweets below.