A Californian Catholic high school expelled two white students after they were accused of doing blackface.
The boys took the school to court and ended up winning their case. The jury found that blackface had not taken place and completely cleared them of any wrongdoing.
The Boys Were Wearing Face Masks
The school had accused the boys of wearing blackface. However, they had face masks on that were used to fight acne.
The boys were 14 at the time. Their facemasks were light green when first applied and would then start to turn dark green.
The Photo Was Posted on Social Media
Like many teenagers these days, the boys decided to post a photo of themselves with their facemasks on, which was posted in 2017.
However, the photo only came to light in 2020 after the death of George Floyd and the rise in the Black Lives Matter movement, and the boys were immediately accused of doing blackface by the school.
Parents Wanted the School To Expel the Boys
When the photo reemerged in 2020, St. Francis students and their parents made the school aware of it and demanded that they take action.
Due to public pressure, the school then gave the boys an ultimatum: Either voluntarily withdraw from the school or be expelled. Obviously, the latter was what transpired.
St. Francis Was Found Guilty
Once the case had been presented in detail to the jury, they found the school guilty of just two of the five claims against it.
The two claims they were found guilty of were failing to conduct a proper investigation and breaching an oral contract.
The School Must Pay $1 Million
Once the jury had cleared the boys of any wrongdoing, the judge ordered the school to pay both students $1 million.
This is after their parents initially sued the school for $20 million, with the school claiming they had expelled the boys over the ‘optics’ of their post.
The Teens Will Also Receive Tuition Reimbursements
Alongside the $1 million that will be split between them, the Santa Clara County judge has also ordered the school to pay back the students’ tuition fees.
The school is expected to pay back the boys’ parents $70,000 in tuition fees they lost out on after they were wrongfully expelled from the school.
Other Catholic Schools Have Had Issues With Blackface
St. Francis High School isn’t the only school with these issues, as another Catholic high school has had to take action against students who had done blackface.
St. Hubert Catholic High School in Philadelphia had to investigate and expel some of its students who had posted videos of themselves on social media doing blackface.
The Case Is Groundbreaking
The jury found St. Francis guilty, and the verdict is said to be groundbreaking in terms of what it will mean for the future.
The case’s verdict means that private high schools in California are now legally required to provide a fair procedure to their students before either punishing or expelling them.
St. Francis Wants to Appeal
Despite the judge and jury finding them guilty of two claims, St. Francis is looking to appeal this decision as the school doesn’t agree with it.
The school claims that there is no legal precedent currently applying to high schools regarding the fairness of their disciplinary review process and hopes that the matter is dealt with swiftly.
Other Students at St. Francis Have Been Accused of Racism
These boys aren’t the first at St. Francis to be accused of racism, as another case occurred at the school around the same time.
Some students who graduated from the school in 2020 had shared memes about George Floyd’s death on Instagram, with the blackface incident putting increasing pressure on the school to do something about it.
The Teenagers Were Worried About a Social Media Backlash
When the images first came to light, and they were accused of blackface, they were worried that the image would haunt them for the rest of their lives and potentially affect their future relationships and working life.
However, as the judge and jury decided in their favor, they no longer have to worry about this and can now live with the peace of mind that they did nothing wrong.
