Photo of teen's racist promposal takes off online: 'If I was black I'd be picking cotton'
A photo appearing to show an Arizona high school student’s promposal from is garnering attention – but not because of the creativity behind the gesture.
In a screenshot of the poster shared on social media, the message reads, “If I was black I’d be picking cotton, but I’m white so I’m picking you 4 prom?”
A student at Mountain View High School in Mesa, Arizona, took to Instagram on Friday to share how her date asked her to prom, according to Arizona’s Family.
Kristina Kelley, who is a former Mountain View High School student, told Arizona’s Family that she received the photo of the promposal from a friend, and shared it on Twitter because she was “disgusted.”
“I think they did it because they thought it was funny,” Kelley said. “I really don’t think they thought about the consequences of what could happen if they posted it.”
Kelley told Arizona’s Family that people took screenshots of the image as it circulated across social media.
Another Mesa-area student, Naomi Wheadon, said people across the district were talking about the poster and its racist message.
“The fact that the girl was OK with it, posted pictures about it and was fine with it, bragging that she got promposed or whatever, is just stupid,” she said.
A representative for Mountain View High School did not immediately respond to Yahoo Lifestyle’s requests for comment.
In a statement to Arizona’s Family, the district said: “Mesa Public Schools and Mountain View High School do not condone the contents of the message posted on a student’s personal social media account. The parents of the students involved have been notified.”
This is not the first time this specific promposal has sparked controversy. A Sarasota, Florida, high school student faced backlash for asking his girlfriend to prom with the same message on posterboard last year.
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