Black Students Only Allowed On School Trip, Parents Outraged At Reverse Racism

“Black students only” is how one school trip in a Kansas school district was described by Assistant Principal Candy Birch, who wanted to set up a field trip focused on African American history and the civil rights movement. But some students and parents are claiming this action was an instance of reverse racism.

In a related report by The Inquisitr, Kobe Bryant was criticized for saying African Americans should not have immediately supported Trayvon Martin, and in response some people said the NBA star needed to be boycotted since he did not understand the “African American experience.” But others defended his comments, saying they were “right on point.”

The uproar at Olathe South High School all started when Birch role a letter to the students where she wrote about her plans for an upcoming event:

“So we are planning an outing open to our African-American sophomores and juniors.”

The field trip she had planned out intended to visit the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and the American Jazz Museum. After having lunch at Arthur Bryant’s the students would travel to the Nelson-Atkins Art Gallery to see the “History and Hope: Celebrating the Civil Rights Movement” exhibit.

In response, upset students sent a copy of the letter to local TV stations and said they were outraged “that the invitation was only extended to black students. Some parents said all students should have been afforded an opportunity to attend.” ACLU legal advisor Doug Bonney agreed that it was illegal to invite black students only, but claim it was simply a misunderstanding:

“I think the school’s heart is in the right place. They’re trying to provide an enrichment experience for these students.”

The school’s superintendent also apologized immediately and claimed it was never their intention to be perceived as officially requiring reverse racism:

“The Olathe South administration would like to apologize for the misunderstanding. As a district we are always looking for ways for our students to get connected and be involved, and unfortunately the letter suggested that this event was only open to African-American students. We would like to make clear that all students are welcome to attend this event.”

Although everyone agrees that discriminating based upon the color of skin is wrong, reports claim that the school still has not clarified the original announcement by telling everyone that the school trip is open to everyone… not just black students only as originally stated.