Courtney Politis, a mother in Miami, recently described herself as “flabbergasted,” after a racist Blackface incident took place at her children’s daycare facility.
According to a report from CNN, Politis removed her children from enrollment at Studio Kids Little River after the mother of another child attending the daycare alerted her of the disturbing event. Politis claims on February 3 she received screenshots of a Black History Month celebration in a classroom at Studio Kids that depicts toddlers in Blackface and various work uniforms.
“I get a phone call from a close mom friend whose child also goes to the school, and she’s like, ‘Oh my god, you won’t believe what they’ve done in our child’s class,” Politis said in part. She continued, “I’m like, ‘Well tell me,’ and she’s like, ‘Well they painted all the children’s face Blackface and sent messages out saying happy Black History Month.'”
Preschool teacher put blackface on kids for Black History Month lesson, outraged parents claim https://t.co/eqnBvEIjZH pic.twitter.com/Y2BgqeQKCZ
— New York Post (@nypost) February 11, 2023
Immediately infuriated by the insensitive activity, Politis explains she reached out to the owner of Studio Kids, Patricia Vitale, revealing how her concerns didn’t register with the administrator at first.
“I’m immediately sending the screenshots over to her and I let her know, like, ‘This is racist,'” Politis said. “Her response, ‘I’m sorry? I don’t understand, what are you saying? What is racist?'”
Even though Politis’ 1-year-old daughter was not in the same classroom the incident occurred in, she still felt the need to pull both of her children from enrollment at two separate branches of Studio Kids.
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In the days following the scandal, Vitale sent messages out to parents claiming the staff at Studio Kids had not, “intended to offend anyone,” and reviewed “several ethical and multicultural education points,” to ensure nothing like this ever happens again.
Politis believes there is no remedy to the problem as is, and completely lost faith in the daycare center’s ability to protect children of all backgrounds.
“The bottom line is we can’t trust them with our children all apologies aside,” Politis said. “I thought we would have more time before these sorts of things or racism or microaggressions would have to be experienced by our children. So the fact that you can’t, I feel like I can’t protect my children from what’s happening is probably the most disappointing and upsetting of all of this.”
A mother in Miami says she was shocked and outraged after the staff at her children’s day care shared photos with parents of students in blackface as part of Black History Month. https://t.co/dW2LRZo3sD pic.twitter.com/LbqgxUviNG
— CNN (@CNN) February 15, 2023
The term Blackface is derived from its mid-19th century origins when White performers darkened their skin to portray enslaved Africans on Southern plantations as “lazy, ignorant, cowardly or hypersexual.”
Sadly, this isn’t the first controversial Blackface incident to occur this year. Earlier this month a viral video emerged from St. Hubert Catholic High School for Girls in Philadelphia featuring multiple students posing in Blackface. According to a statement from St. Hubert school officials, the individuals who were involved in the video are “no longer members of the school community,” as a result.
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