Fourteen students at St. Ignatius College Preparatory, a mostly-white Catholic school in California, have been suspended after attending a racist-themed party.
The outrage over the students’ actions began when images began to surface on Instagram and social media of the students attending a party with a “wigger” theme. The term refers to white people who have appropriated black culture, and the students attended dressed in outfits that reflected negative stereotypes of black people. Pictures showed the partygoers flashing gang signs and wearing shirts that said things like “Thug Life.”
The party was attended by around 100 students from five different schools in the area, but St. Ignatius is the first to take disciplinary action against the students.
“It’s so contradictory to who we are and who we want to be,” the school’s principal, Patrick Ruff, told KRON News.
“Over the years, we have done much work in the area of diversity through the school’s Office of Equity and Inclusion, which is an integral part of our school community. Clearly, however, we have more work ahead of us in forming adolescents to be their best selves,” read a statement on the St. Ignatius website concerning the decision to suspend the fourteen students involved in the party.
