Photo: Twitter
Parents are outraged.
By Ethan Cotler — Written on Feb 21, 2023
“Blackface” is rooted in racism in America.
Historically, minstrel performers painted their faces black to emulate African Americans in a racially charged fashion.
For the parents of toddlers at a daycare in Florida, it has become a modern-day nightmare scenario.
A daycare in Miami, Florida had children use blackface to celebrate Black History Month.
A Black mother, Courtney Politis, whose children are enrolled at the school Studio Kids Little River, spoke out in an interview with NBC News Miami.
Another parent had notified Politis of the images shared through the daycare’s messaging app.
“She calls me, and she’s like, ‘You won’t believe the photos that were sent to me from this classroom,’” Politis said.
The photos showed children in costumes, like one in a construction worker’s outfit and another in a police officer’s uniform, all with their faces painted black.
The caption read “Black History Month” with an emoji depicting masks.
Politis was quick to act and forwarded the images to the daycare owner.
“I sent it to the owner and director,” Politis said, but the owner’s response was less than satisfactory.
“I’m sorry? I don’t understand what’s racist; we don’t use those words,” Politis claimed was their response to her.
She claimed that this first response was their authentic opinion on the matter, dismissing subsequent apologies from the school.
“We have not intended to offend anyone, and we’re very sorry about any inconvenience,” Patricia Vitale, the daycare’s owner, wrote to the parents. “We wanted to let all the parents know that we met on Friday afternoon with all the teachers and staff.”
Vitale went on to say that they plan to educate their employees on “necessary topics” in U.S. history and multicultural education.
“You may rest assured this will never happen again,” Vitale concluded.
In an interview with NBC Miami, Nick Politis, Courtney’s husband and father to the children, commented on being confounded by the situation.
“I was angry that somehow fell through the crack,” Politis said. “I wasn’t sure how this came about and who decided to do this. But it seemed like it was multiple failures on the school’s part.”
One of the daycare teachers came forward and apologized to Courtney.
The unnamed teacher reached out to Politis and directly apologized to her.
The teacher cited her Argentine background as why she had her students paint their faces black — she explained that it is her country’s tradition.
Courtney and Nick subsequently met with the daycare owner, but they opted to remove their children from the daycare anyway.
The daycare temporarily closed after rumors of protests, and as for the teacher, they released a statement saying that she “was released from her employment.”
“It’s not an accident,” Courtney said to NBC. “You know better, especially being an educator.”
Ethan Cotler is a writer living in Boston. He writes on entertainment and news.