A southern Colorado second-grader, Sean King, wanted to share his admiration for a legend with his classmates. The students were asked to dress as famous people for the school’s Wax Museum Day. King, who is Caucasian, chose to dress as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and felt the costume would only be complete if he incorporated black face paint. Unfortunately, parents and other staff members felt that the face paint was racially insensitive, and he was asked to remove it.
Sean’s mother, Michelle King-Roca, was furious that the school administration would not allow Sean to stay in costume, and she pulled her son out of school. The incident has upset the family so much, they’re considering pulling Sean out of the school altogether.
“They thought it was inappropriate and it will be disrespectful to Black people. And I say it’s not. I like Black people. It’s just a costume and I don’t want to insult anybody,” Sean told KRDO-TV.
What are your thoughts? Was the school too harsh on the second-grader or were they taking necessary actions? How would you feel if your child’s classmate came to school in a similar costume? Although the intentions were not racially motivated, does it still touch a sore spot within our community?