ATLANTA (AP) — An Atlanta charter school has apologized for a performance in which second-graders held blackface masks while reciting a poem about hiding the pain of discrimination .
The Kindezi School at Old Fourth Ward issued a statement Friday saying it will give teachers cultural competency training. It also says teachers will explain the poem to students while giving them a chance to express their feelings and thoughts.
The performance of Paul Laurence Dunbar’s “We Wear the Mask” was Thursday, with masks resembling makeup worn by white performers in 19th-century minstrel shows.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that video on Facebook drew more than 830,000 views in 18 hours, prompting questions from parents and outrage from around the internet.
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Parent Ari Lima tells WSBTV that Dunbar’s poem had nothing to do with blackface.
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This story has been corrected to fix the spelling of “parents” and correct the day of the week in the summary line.