A school in Mississippi thought it was inappropriate for a young Black girl to wear a “Black Girls Rocks” t-shirt.
According to reports by WLOX, the incident occurred at Popps Ferry Elementary in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Student Sharika Jolly noticed something strange when she saw her daughter, Makiyah-Jae, 8, come home in different shirt that she wore before going to school. Jolly asked her daughter why she had on a new shirt and the young girl told her mother that school administrators forced her to take it off.
Makiyah-Jae wore her “Black Girls Rock” t-shirt and her mother said the shirt allowed her to be inspired as a young Black girl. But the school’s principal made the girl change shirts during school hours. Jolly went to the school and asked why the child was forced to change shirts, but the principal only replied by saying, “I’m the principal so I made the call.”
Jolly took her complaints to the district’s Superintendent Arthur McMillan and agreed that the principal overreacted. Fearing backlash, McMillan and the principal apologized to the student and her mother. The school doesn’t have uniforms and the shirt didn’t contain language that would be considered offensive.
But the incident proves how some individuals are uncomfortable with the word “Black” in any form. The initial reaction by the principal proves the point. Makiyah-Jae will be allowed to wear her shirt again, but the school’s principal must become more open to diverse ideas of the students who attend the school.
