High school teachers in North Carolina are being retrained after a racially insensitive incident concerning Black History Month (BHM) sparked a nationwide debate.
West Charlotte High School’s recent decorations, ironically in celebration of BHM, were promptly removed after photos of double doors in the school featuring “Colored” and “White” entrance labels went viral on social media.
Hundreds of users on Twitter (X) remarked on the images, engaging in back-and-forth discussions with each other over whether the display was constructive or disrespectful.
While some users argued there was a sense of meritocracy added by the display, others countered with the fact that regionally, racism is still a major issue across America.
People also discussed if it was actually causing more division.
“That’s really bad,” a user wrote. “That feeds racism. How about we quit dividing ourselves. Hate and division is taught and pushed.” Another user added, “Hate to break it to you because it sounds like you live under a rock, the black folks don’t like us even more now than before.” The user added, “It’s them that want separation. Whites dying at the hands of blacks everyday.”
Ebony Caldwell, daughter of the teacher responsible for the display, says her mother was “very hurt” by the backlash and claims her mom wasn’t informed the decorations, which were removed on Valentine’s Day, would be taken down.