A South Carolina elementary school has been criticized after two staff members dressed as Border Patrol agents to represent Mexico in an “Olympic parade.”
Royall Elementary School in Florence has been forced to apologize for the “insensitive” stunt, which drew widespread criticism after it was shared on social media.
On Wednesday, staff dressed in ‘offensive’ clothing as part of the celebration of the first week back at school.
Footage from the event showed two staff members wearing T-shirts that read “US Border Patrol” posing in front of a fake brick wall.
Royall Elementary School in Florence was outraged after two staff members dressed as border patrol agents to represent Mexico as part of an ‘Olympic parade’
Others were seen wearing sombreros and posing in front of a sign that read “Royall Cantina,” the Spanish word for bar.
A Mexican-American parent who saw the exhibit was among the first to raise alarms about the “disheartening” presentation.
Her post online alerted other parents who saw the footage on the school’s official Facebook page and couldn’t believe it.
“As a Mexican-American, as a Hispanic woman, as a mother of biracial Hispanic children in the Florence 1 School district. I am very offended, very offended,” mother Annette Fling told ABC4 News.
“These are teachers with degrees who should have known better. Of all the things they could have done with the culture, community and land of Mexico, they chose to involve the US Border Patrol.
“And Royal Cantina, which is a Spanish word for bar. Inappropriate, racist. Just a downright disgrace.”
Staff dressed in the ‘offensive’ uniform as part of the celebration of the first week back at school on Wednesday
Local parent Annette Fling, who is Mexican-American, criticized the “offensive” and “racist” display
Another anonymous parent shared her thoughts on the issue on Facebook.
“There were so many other ways to represent Mexico in the ‘Olympic Parade.’ Neither Border Patrol has ANYTHING to do with ‘Back to School’ or the ‘Olympics,’ in case you didn’t know,” she fumed.
“And a ‘Cantina’ is also an inappropriate representation of Mexican culture. The staff and principals at Royall Elementary should be held accountable immediately. There is absolutely NO way they thought this was OK.”
‘Those teachers should have studied Mexican culture more and thought about it more.’
According to U.S. News demographic data, Royall has about 40 of its 462 students who are Hispanic and Latino.
The school is comprised exclusively of students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and is ranked 124th out of approximately 600 elementary schools in South Carolina.
“It is with regret that we must acknowledge that a photo posted to our Facebook page yesterday demonstrates a callous disregard for the current challenges facing our Hispanic population,” the school said in a statement.
According to U.S. News demographics, Royall has about 40 Hispanic and Latino students out of 462
The school apologized after the negative reactions from parents
‘At Royall, we are extremely proud of our long-standing tradition of embracing and supporting every student who steps into our building.
‘Our staff is unanimously committed to celebrating the diversity of our families and ensuring that every student at Royall is successful, happy and recognized for their unique culture and abilities.
“We apologize for our insensitivity, but we look forward to building relationships as the new school year begins.”
Florence Schools Director Dr. Richard O’Malley also responded to the “inappropriate” post.
“Today, this matter has been thoroughly investigated and those who contributed to this event have been held accountable for their decision-making and actions,” he said.
“There is no room for this in our schools and I will not tolerate it in our school district.”