https://nypost.com/2023/11/13/news/california-middle-schooler-banned-from-sports-over-black-face-but-group-says-he-was-just-wearing-eye-paint/

California middle-schooler was suspended for allegedly wearing "blackface" to a local football game but a national civil rights group claims the boy was just wearing eye paint.

The eighth-grader, only identified as J.A. for privacy reasons, was photographed attending a high school football game between La Jolla High School and Morse High School with dark face paint covering his cheeks and chin on Oct. 13, according to the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE).

That ain't eyeblack

Looks like a kid that got a bit exuberant with the eye black.

That is a poor use of eye black but it isn't blackface. I doubt that child had even heard of blackface before this suspension. Unless he was going around saying offensive stuff, which I doubt he was, the adults in this situation should be suspended.

It's just eye black. Probably going for the warrior face paint look. Saw it plenty in football

I'd be shocked if the kid knows who Ray Lewis is. I imagine he was copying the kids on the field.

Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE)

This is the group that started off supporting and providing advocacy for freedom of speech on campus on behalf of students and professors. The group recently expanded their mission for speech rights to other venues and voices.

If it is not done by Travis or Jason Kelce, it doesn't count

Stupid me, I always thought eyeblack was just single stripe under each eye. However after seeing the current players, clearly that is what he was emulating.

The real question is when will the NFL players be cancelled for going in blackface?

So if a black guy dyes his hair blonde- is he doing "white hair"?

If it doesn't cover the whole face, it isn't blackface.

Owlagdad said:

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So if a black guy dyes his hair blonde- is he doing "white hair"?

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It was established in the early 2000s that black people cannot be racist.

What happened to freedom of speech?

The fact that made the NY Post is beyond ridiculous.

America is broken beyond repair.

Owlagdad said:

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So if a black guy dyes his hair blonde- is he doing "white hair"?

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Yes, and we should ruin his life. If a young black girl has blonde hair, RUIN HER.

Leftists are f-ing psycho.

Gilligan said:

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The fact that made the NY Post is beyond ridiculous.

America is broken beyond repair.

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The fact that we're talking about it shows just what this country feels is a priority while so many other real atrocities are happening every day in every town in America.

Only the kid knows why he wore it that way, and if it's because he was copying players, then people need to leave him TF alone - he's just being a kid imitating something he really likes.

At his age, I'd be extremely surprised if he was doing blackface, but if for some reason he was, I'd say take the parents behind the woodshed and deal with them with extreme prejudice (pun intended) for instilling that into a child.

Monywolf said:

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That ain't eyeblack

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Based on the photos it does not appear to be standard issue eyeblack.

Also noted the kid was "attending" and not participating.

That said, the kid should be given benefit of the doubt and allowed to explain his intention.

If he says that he was trying to mimic a football player wearing eyeblack, that is good enough for me and he should not be punished and should not be made into a national news story regardless.

This sort of feels like someone was baiting for a conflict / story.

Noted liberal airhead Justin Trudeau showed us how to do blackface correctly. A kid at a football game pretending to be a player is not blackface. The school administration are cowards for not calling the allegation out for what it is.

PLACE AT THE TABLE!!!

If you couldnt tell what he was doing, you are certified DAF. Especially given the context. Anyone with any semblance of intelligence would know its not blackface.

Wonder if these Bruins were suspended? What a friggin clown world we live in……

I noticed in those pictures the guys are actually wearing football uniforms. Part of the unknown here is what, if any, affiliation the boy had with the team.

Again, that being said, it is not unheard of for fans to use face paint. So either the kid did it as a very poorly considered prank, or he was misperceived and has been subject to unfair treatment by the school and the press.

There is not part of me that assumes this kid was trying to wear "blackface" and I would be truly surprised if that turns out to be the case.

Logos Stick said:

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Hopefully the principal is fired.

The right approach would have been to meet with the kid to find out why he did it. Then explain to him that it can be misconstrued by morons on the left to be racist.

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That's a whole bunch of overkill, but there had better be a written letter of apology along with what you suggested with the sit down with parents present.

15 black students beating a white student to death: No problem

A white kid wearing eye black to a football game: RACISM!

And as others have said, if you don't know what the kid was doing then you are a very well regarded individual.