Black California elementary students receive racist drawings depicting monkeys and lynchings

Racist drawings handed out to black students at a Southern California elementary school have prompted a father to remove his son from the institution.

Classmates gave a young student sketches containing images of a stick figure being lynched and messages reading ‘you’re my favorite monkey’ and ‘to my favorite cotton picker’.

The mother of the girl who received the drawings said KTLA she will no longer allow her daughter to attend Pepper Tree Elementary School in Upland, California after continued bullying.

Parents of a second girl who has faced similar racism say their three children, all of whom attend Pepper Tree, have been mostly unaddressed.

The Upland Unified School District superintendent said in a statement this week that the drawings are under investigation at this time.

This sketch given to a student contains an image of a stick figure being lynched

Maylana and Rome Douglas are the parents of the three children from Pepper Tree Elementary, one of whom was told they would also receive a photo of a lynch mob.

The shocking drawings given to the boy show a large brown monkey on one side of a card accompanied by the message ‘you are my favorite monkey’.

One of the other cards shows a landscape with white pieces of cotton in the air surrounded by the words “to my favorite cotton picker.”

Maylana and Rome Douglas are the parents of the three children at Pepper Tree Elementary, one of whom was told they would also receive an image of a lynch mob.

“They said they were going to give her (a drawing) that specifically said: ‘You are my favorite slave’ and they were going to show her as a slave hanging from a tree,” Maylana said.

A drawing shown to the Southern California television station featured an image of a black stick figure hanging from trees.

Maylana and Rome also said that a group of girls told their daughter that they were going to give her a special treatment for Black History Month.

The girls said they would give him massages and back rubs.

“It’s your month, you’re entitled to back rubs,” Rome said the girls told her daughter.

“And apparently, someone said to her, ‘well, maybe only half the month because you’re only half black,'” the concerned father continued.

One of the other cards shows a landscape with white pieces of cotton in the air surrounded by the words “to my favorite cotton picker.”

“They said they were going to give her (a drawing) that specifically said: ‘You are my favorite slave,’ and they were going to show her as a slave hanging from a tree,” Maylana said.

Maylana and Rome also said that a group of girls told their daughter that they were going to give her a special treatment for Black History Month.

This image shows a black stick figure holding a sign that reads ‘no more picking cotton’.

On the other side of the card, the student wrote ‘happy Black History Month. The group will be nice all month’ along with a smiley face

Another card given to a black student shows a stick figure holding a sign that reads “no more picking cotton.”

On the other side of the card, the student wrote ‘happy Black History Month. The group will be pleasant all month together with a smiling face.

Shocking as the drawings are, parents say it’s not the first time students have experienced racism in the district.

Just last year, a teacher was suspended after he made anti-Asian comments at another nearby school.

“This is not the first time such a situation has occurred. It won’t be the last time this situation happens, but the most important thing is our response to the situation,’ said Robin Allen, president of the school’s PTA.

“I hope the district doesn’t sweep this under the rug like they have in the past,” Allen said.

In a video posted to YouTube, Upland USD Board Chairman Sherman Garnett said the district has a “zero tolerance policy” for these incidents.

“I want to make it perfectly clear that we have a strict zero tolerance policy for any type of hate speech, harassment,” Garnett said in the video.

Shocking as the drawings are, parents say it’s not the first time students have experienced racism in the district. Just last year, a teacher was placed on furlough after he made anti-Asian remarks at another school within the district.

“This is not the first time such a situation has occurred. It won’t be the last time this situation happens, but the most important thing is our response to the situation,’ said Robin Allen, president of the school’s PTA.

“I want to make it perfectly clear that we have a strict zero tolerance policy for any type of hate speech, harassment,” said Upland USD Chairman of the Board Sherman Garnett.

School district officials said in a statement that they are looking into the situation.

“An investigation was conducted immediately upon learning of these disgusting and racist drawings that students gave to another child in their class,” district officials said.

‘The content of those cards is shocking and abominable. We are deeply sorry that our student has had to endure the pain caused by race-based bullying,” they continued.

When asked if the student or students who drew the drawings face disciplinary action, the district said it can’t share that information due to privacy laws.