Parents are outraged that some students dressed in Ku Klux Klan robes for a school play
Some parents are expressing shock and outrage after three teens appeared onstage in Ku Klux Klan robes during a high school play — but a spokesperson for the school claims critics of the costumes are taking them out of context.
On Friday, the ASU Preparatory Academy in Phoenix, Ariz., put on a performance of the popular play The Foreigner, a comedic tale by the well-known satirist Larry Shue. A scripted moment toward the end of show requires Klansmen characters to enter the scene — but audience members were shocked to find the young performers emerge in full Ku Klux Klan regalia, according to one ASU parent who spoke with ABC 15.
“Three students dressed as the KKK walked down the middle of the assembly as part of a play,” said the parent, who remained anonymous at his daughter’s request. “It’s wrong in any way shape or form. There’s no justification for it.” He was alarmed that parents — and the non-drama students who attended the assembly where the play was performed — were never informed of the costume choice. “At least inform the parents. Give us the ability to make that decision. The KKK walked into my children’s school on Friday, and I didn’t get to stop it.”
Video of the controversial scene is making the rounds on social media — and made its way to Dawn M. Demps, who has three children that attend ASU charter schools. “It was absolutely unnecessary to put the children in the robes,” Demps tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “I was not at the play, but as a black mother, when I saw the pictures, it was triggering for me. I can’t imagine being one of the kids in that space and seeing them come out in Klan costumes. To me, [the robes] are inappropriate, especially for that age group.” She says it was important to provide context to the students and help them understand that the outfits were not meant to promote the Klan in any way.
Another parent, Richard Crews, shared this sentiment in a note he posted to Facebook. “It isn’t troublesome to me that students picked this play (kids do stuff like that)…It is however troublesome to me, that the school did not let people know of the potential triggering moment,” he wrote, noting that he’s already taken his grievances to authorities at ASU Prep.
But a spokesperson for ASU Prep said that the scene intends to ridicule the KKK, and the outfits were not meant to be offensive. “The play portrays an image of members of Klansmen [sic] in a brief — less than one minute long — scene toward the end in which they are made fun of and driven away,” the spokesperson noted in a statement to Yahoo Lifestyle. “We apologize if anyone was caught by surprise with the appearance of these characters. We are confident that a fair reading of the text of the play, and a fair interpretation of the intentions of students who performed it, reveals no endorsement of bigotry.”
The spokesperson also said that it was the students themselves who chose to perform The Foreigner out of several options because the story deals with a topic that resonates with many teens: anxiety and the inability to interact with peers. He emphasizes that the play — and particularly the controversial scene — were meant purely as satire. He calls the Klan’s appearance in the play “incidental” and says that unfortunately these “monsters” have existed in American history, as documented in films and books that most high school students have likely come across.
On Facebook — where the video clip has been watched by thousands — the opinions are split. Some are appalled by the decision to allow students to wear the robes, calling it “so wrong” and saying they are “appalled” and “not surprised. But other commenters agree with the school. “The play was produced in 1984. The Klan are in the play. It is a comedy,” one wrote. “The play is supposed to show how ridiculous the Klan is.”
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