A high school student in East Bay came to campus wearing a Ku Klux Klan costume, leaving the school officials and his fellow students disturbed.
The incident was admitted by Pittsburg Unified School District officials, saying that it happened at Pittsburg High School on Wednesday.
“A disturbing and unacceptable incident occurred at the high school where a student wore a KKK costume yesterday, hiding the top part of the costume and wearing it for moments at a time until staff discovered it after the fourth period and confiscated it,” part of the district’s statement secured by KPIX 5.
The student’s photo wearing the costume has reached social media, officials said.
His fellow students, in a talk to KPIX5, first thought his attire copied a ghost.
“Everyone assumed he was a ghost at first and then people found out he was a KKK member as a joke,” Addis Harris, a sophomore in the same school said. “Apparently his friends dared him to do it and because his friends are of color, they thought it was okay. But it’s still not okay.”
Another student, Carter Williams, said he spotted the KKK-dressed student in the school building’s hallway.
“I was like, why would you dress up like that, why would you come to school like that? And why would your parents let you come to school like that? It’s not okay,” he said.
In a statement, Pittsburg High School principal Todd Whitmire said that the student and his family have been talked to by the school regarding the incident. The teen said he dressed as such because of a dare.
The principal said he will face consequences and will be taken in the process of the school’s restorative process.
“As a school community, we are very disappointed and concerned with the actions of this student,” Whitmire said. “We are committed to addressing what has occurred and working with this student to help him recognize the harm his actions have caused and, just as importantly, the responsibility he has, along with our school, to help repair the harm.”
The restorative justice process will also cover the other students the KKK-costumed teen was within the photo online.
