close
close

South Carolina school faces criticism on social media over Border Patrol costume photo

Royall Elementary School apologized for a Facebook post that showed some of its employees wearing U.S. Border Patrol T-shirts at an event celebrating Mexican culture.

play

What was supposed to be a fun day celebrating Mexican culture took a bad turn when two employees showed up wearing insensitive t-shirts.

The incident occurred on July 31 during Royall Elementary School's “Royal Cantina” event. The school in Florence County, South Carolina, faced strong backlash on social media after posting images of two staff members dressed as U.S. Border Patrol agents.

The post has since been deleted due to the flood of angry comments from the Mexican-American community.

Here you will find out everything you need to know about the incident and the employment status of the employees.

What you should know about the incident

According to a USA Today article, the event took place before the first day of school during the elementary school's in-service day. Most of the staff tried to fit in with the Latin bar theme through their attire, with some wearing sombreros and colorful clothing. Two school staff members were photographed wearing gray shirts with “US Border Patrol” printed on them while standing in front of a makeshift red brick wall. The photo of the staff members was then uploaded to Facebook by the school on July 31.

It didn't take long for the photos to spark outrage on social media, with South Carolinians expressing their disapproval and shame.

“This is beyond disgusting. These so-called 'educators' should be fired immediately,” commented one Facebook user.

Another said: “As a mother, I would hate for anything to happen to a child. These teachers need to be fired immediately. They are racist and have no place in our schools. How can they find this funny? It's a disgrace that they were placed on leave and will now be back to teaching.”

How did Royall Elementary School respond to the incident?

Royall Elementary School posted a statement on Facebook about the incident. The post, which received 476 reactions, read:

“It is with regret that we acknowledge that an image posted to our Facebook page yesterday showed an insensitive disregard for the current challenges facing our Hispanic population. At Royall, we are very proud of our long-standing tradition of welcoming and supporting every student who walks through the doors of our building. Our staff is unanimously committed to celebrating the diversity of our families and ensuring that each and every student at Royall is successful, happy, and recognized for their unique culture and abilities. We apologize for our insensitivity but look forward to building relationships as we begin a new school year.”

Due to the backlash, the school limited the number of people who could comment on the post.

Are employees who wore border police shirts at risk of being fired?

Richard O'Malley, superintendent of Florence One Schools, addressed the incident in a letter to parents, stating, “Several staff members are no longer employed or have been placed on leave.”

In the letter, he added: “I want to assure the Royall community that the school will continue to provide an exceptional education to all students, with the high expectations and outstanding student achievement that our staff at Royall has always provided.”

Nina Tran covers current affairs for The Greenville News. You can reach her by email at [email protected].

You may also like...