School officials at Big Lake High School in Minnesota are working with law enforcement after a “cotton picking” promposal went viral this week.
Written By Charise Frazier
Now that states are opening up at rapid pace in spite of a pandemic, some of the perils of the world we left behind continue to spring up.
That includes a slew of racially charged incidents, some of which occur in the form of ‘promproposals,” where high school students take grandiose gestures to extend an invite to prom.
In a now widely shared photo, two white students from Big Lake High School in Big Lake, Minnesota, are seen embracing while holding a sign that reads, “If I were Black, I’d be picking cotton, but I’m white, so I’m picking you. Prom?”
Like wildfire, the photo circulated on social media especially in the midst of the current climate where sys-temic racism against Black communities contributes to lack of equity, but increased exposure to violence and even death.
Sadly, former students of Big Lake High School told KARE 11, that they’re far from surprised regarding the behavior.
“That’s a product of the environment that the school produces,” said Rayveen Koha-JaLlah, a 2018 graduate of Big Lake High School, and a local civil rights activist.
“These people are people who I have seen, I’ve interacted with, I know personally.”
A Big Lake School District spokesperson released a statement to parents which stated school administrators deeply condoned the action and addressed the matter with local law enforcement:
“The School District is taking this report very seriously and is in the process of investigating this matter. We will be evaluating it under any and all applicable School District policies and will take whatever action is necessary and appropriate to address the situation. Due to state and federal data privacy laws, the School District is prohibited from sharing more information about this matter with the public about the specifics of this incident and the students involved. Big Lake Schools does not condone racism, in any form.
On Thursday and Friday school administrators shuttered the school’s doors and switched to distance learning in an effort to keep the school community safe due to violent threats.
