LAist relies on your reader support, not paywalls.
Freely accessible local news is vital. Please power our reporters and help keep us independent with a donation today.
Students With Confederate Flag Photobomb Senior Class Photo
Photo of the students holding up the Confederate flag (Photo courtesy of @BritxChavez Twitter)
Six teens from Claremont High School riled other students when they posed for their senior class photo while holding up a Confederate flag.The photo of the boys holding the flag, which was tweeted out on March 17, was taken during a 600-student senior class photo on the school's football field in anticipation of graduation, reported KABC. It's not clear whether the students did it as a prank or it was something malicious.
"A few upset and offended students notified the administrators,” Brett O’Connor, principal of Claremont High School, told Daily Bulletin. “On Thursday morning, more students came to the administration expressing their anger over the students displaying the Confederate flag on campus.”
Although the Claremont Unified School District told KABC that the students were disciplined and counseled, there were no details given on what specific actions were taken. The students were not expelled.
However, the final senior class photo in the yearbook does not have the shot with the Confederate flag in it, reported Daily Bulletin.
The person who tweeted out the snapshot, @BritxChavez, wrote that she was treated unfairly during her time at the school:
Other students seemed to have mixed opinions about the incident. Some told KABC that it was "no big deal," while others considered it racist.
However, Mike Bateman, assistant superintendent of student services, told Daily Bulletin that this isn't an ongoing issue:
“I’ve been in this district a long time, and I’ve never heard about the Confederate flag being part of the culture there,” Bateman said. “It’s not a pervasive belief."