Parents and local leaders are incensed after a group — including adults — showed up in blackface at a Georgia high school volleyball game.
The alleged incident occurred at Whitewater High School in Fayetteville, Georgia, last week during a girls’ match against LaGrange High School. A photo captured the disturbing incident, showing five individuals with bodies and faces covered in black paint, wearing white afros. Each boasted a letter spelling “RYLEE” on their chests.
The involved individuals have not been publicly named. However, the group included one non-Whitewater student and several adults, Fayette County Public Schools Superintendent Jonathan Patterson told the community at Monday’s board of education meeting.
“We want to state clearly: it is never acceptable to paint one’s face black. This action is deeply offensive, and it does not reflect the values of our schools or our community,” the superintendent said. “We sincerely apologize for the hurt this incident has caused to our students, families, and community.”
School staff confronted the group after they entered the gym, Patterson said, regretting they were allowed inside at all. To ensure such an incident never happens again, the district is working with NAACP and other groups “to provide training and support so that our staff can respond appropriately in the future,” he said.
Whitewater High School Principal Krystin Hall also addressed the incident in a note to parents and guardians. “We want to be clear that the actions of the visitors do not reflect the values of our school or community, and we do not condone it in any way,” Hall wrote, according to Fox5.
The Independent has reached out to Patterson and Hall for more information.
Still, some parents and local leaders say the letters and apologies from school administrators aren’t enough.
“If you never had a blackface incident at your child’s school, you don’t know the pain I felt when I saw that picture. This is emotional violence. Black people are actually hurt by these images,” Adrian Cooley, a father with children at Whitewater High School, told Atlanta News First.
Georgia state Rep. Derrick Jackson, who is running to be the state’s governor, held up a photo of the incident at a Monday press conference.
“In 2025, this is not entertainment. This is not cute. This is not fun. Why would someone in 2025 do this?” Jackson said, calling on the superintendent to make enforceable policies to ensure such an incident never happens again.
Kevin Pratt, president of the Fayette County NAACP, said he had spoken with Patterson in the wake of the incident.
“Our position is clear. We fully condone any acts of inference, hate, racism or intimidation. We stand with our entire community to ensure every student and family is treated equally, respected and protected,” Pratt said at the press conference.
