Student hit with suspension for using glare-reducing 'eye black'
A student at a California middle school has been suspended for wearing glare-reducing "eye black" at a football game, mimicking the actions of professional, college, and high school students alike.
And now the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression is calling for the punishment to be rescinded.
"Muirlands Middle School has no authority to discipline J.A. for his non-disruptive, constitutionally protected display of team spirit," the free speech organization officials have told the school in a letter.
They asks school officials to remove any mention of the incident from J.A.'s school record and lift a ban on the student's attendance at sports events.
Further, the school needs to renew its commitment to "binding First Amendment obligations."
"Anyone who spends any amount of time watching sports will see players wearing eye black — black paint or grease applied under the eyes. Traditionally, athletes use eye black to mitigate glare from the sun or stadium lights, but it also has aesthetic appeal," FIRE explained in a report.
"As one sports analyst put it back in 2008, 'The real reason everyone loves to wear eye black is that it looks totally cool, like modern war paint.' Some athletes go with the classic two black lines under the eyes. But for many others, the more eye black, the better."
J.A., in fact, used eye black that was under his eyes and spread down his cheeks, copying professional players whose images were documented by FIRE.
J.A. was at the game, wearing the eye black, without incident.
"However, about a week after the game, the Muirlands Middle School principal called J.A. and his parents to a meeting, where he told them J.A. would be suspended for two days and banned from future athletic events for wearing 'blackface' at the football game. The disciplinary notice describes J.A.’s alleged offense as 'painted his face black at a football game' and categorizes the incident as 'Offensive comment, intent to harm.'"
That, FIRE's report said, "is preposterous."
"Merriam-Webster defines 'blackface' as “dark makeup worn to mimic the appearance of a black person and especially to mock or ridicule black people.' Blackface has its origins in racist minstrel shows featuring white actors caricaturing black people, including by covering their entire faces in dark makeup and stereotypically exaggerating their facial features," FIRE explained.
J.A., instead, was following "a popular warpaint-inspired trend of athletes applying large amounts of eye black under their eyes, which has no racial connotations whatsoever," FIRE told the school.
The organization documented that the Supreme Court already has concluded that "school officials cannot restrict student speech based on speculative, 'undifferentiated fear' that it will cause disruption or feelings of unpleasantness or discomfort among the student body."
FIRE is calling for a response from the school no later than Nov. 22.
IMPORTANT NOTE TO WND READERS: Shortly after Hamas terrorists fired over 5,000 rockets from Gaza into Israel on Oct. 7 and then proceeded to attack the Jewish state by land, sea and air – torturing, burning, beheading and murdering well over a thousand people, including women, children and infants, and wounding and abducting hundreds more – world reaction was, in its own way, almost equally shocking.
For after the biggest one-day mass slaughter of Jews since the Nazi Holocaust, what followed was an outpouring of celebratory demonstrations, unbridled Jew-hatred, deliriously gleeful support for Hamas and bitter condemnation of the nation of Israel. Not just in the Arab-Muslim world, but throughout the Western world as well, including all across America.
Why? What is behind the explosion of anti-Israel, anti-Jewish, pro-terror sentiment in the United States, where Israel has long been one of America's closest friends and allies? Why are hordes of young "woke" LGBT demonstrators marching in support of Hamas – when Hamas wouldn't think twice about binding and blindfolding them and throwing them off the roof of a tall building – as they routinely do in the Muslim world?
It turns out there's one area of agreement that is so powerful, deep-seated and all-consuming that the vast differences between the deranged left and the murderous jihadists melt away into Kumbaya harmony.
All of this and much more is completely exposed in November's issue of WND's critically acclaimed monthly Whistleblower magazine, titled ISRAEL VS. GLOBAL JIHAD: How Jew-hatred, radical Islam and Leftism are pushing us toward World War III. Beyond a deeply insightful dive into why leftists are surging toward radical Islam – which hates and dreams of raping and butchering them – this Whistleblower issue includes fantastic articles by everyone from top Israeli analyst (and former Israel Defense Forces officer) Caroline Glick to Harvest Christian Fellowship's Pastor Greg Laurie on the current war in Israel and biblical prophecies regarding the End Times … which he says are now upon us.
WHISTLEBLOWER is available in both the popular print edition and a state-of-the-art digital version, either single issues or discounted annual subscriptions.
For 25 years, WND has boldly brought you the news that really matters. If you appreciate our Christian journalists and their uniquely truthful reporting and analysis, please help us by becoming a WND Insider!
Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@wndnewscenter.org.
SUPPORT TRUTHFUL JOURNALISM. MAKE A DONATION TO THE NONPROFIT WND NEWS CENTER. THANK YOU!
The post Student hit with suspension for using glare-reducing 'eye black' appeared first on WND.