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A staff member at an elementary school in Newberg, Ore., Used blackface to disguise herself as civil rights icon Rosa Parks to protest her school’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, CBS Affiliate KION reported Monday.
An unidentified staff member told KION that primary school special education assistant Mabel Rush Lauren Pefferle had darkened her face with iodine for demonstration.
“Last Friday, one of our employees showed up for work at Blackface,” the school district said in a statement. “The employee was removed from the location and [human resources] placed the employee on administrative leave. Newberg’s public school administration condemns all expressions of racism. “
“Every incident report is always taken seriously as we diligently follow our policies to investigate and take appropriate action,” the district added. “We continue to work for a safe and welcoming environment in our schools, free from bullying and reducing mental, emotional and physical damage as we move forward together on our mission to educate students.”
The blackface incident comes amid controversy surrounding a A student at Newberg High School is logged into a fake Snapchat group chat about the “slave trade,” according to the CBS affiliate.
The local school board, for its part, was repelled by his attempts to ban all Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ Pride flags on school grounds as “political” symbols.
Tai Harden-Moore, a former school board candidate who has children in the district, told KION local leaders need to do better.
“It only makes sense because we have our county commissioner, Mary Starrett, who drew that line between the vaccination warrants and Jim Crow,” said Harden-Moore. “It was only a few months ago. Our county leaders say basic public health measures are similar to those of Jim Crow. There is a line between our political leadership and something like that going on. Our leadership matters.
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