A California high school teacher has been suspended after wearing blackface to Halloween.
The unidentified teacher was outed in a social media post, where he is seen with his face painted black, wearing a turtleneck and a jacket while rapping about Artificial Intelligence, seemingly mocking a Microsoft ad featuring the rapper Common.
According to CNN, Milpitas High School Principal Francis Rojas and Milpitas Unified School District Cheryl Jordan issued a joint statement, slamming the teacher’s actions as “disparaging,” and noting that the teacher has been placed on leave.
“In a school community where we welcome learners and families from over 50 languages who represent cultures and religions throughout the world, and where our long-standing neighborhood, Sunnyhills, was established as the first city in the nation for planned integration, it hurts to know that this type of cultural insensitivity and lack of cultural awareness still hovers in the background,” the statement added. “We are committed to strengthening our school environment through culturally relevant and respectful education designed to address prejudice and racism so that we can prevent bullying and harassment.”