When La Jolla High School played Morse High School under the Friday night lights on Oct. 13, students from the surrounding San Diego area filled the stadium to cheer on their future teams. Making posters, donning face and body paint, shouting chants and sporting jerseys were all part of the atmosphere of the electric football match.
JA, a high school student from Muirlands Middle School, attended the game with another student and that student’s mother. To support his team, JA had his friend apply black eye paint to his face. A security guard even complimented the design. The game was largely uneventful and La Jolla won on its own (56–6). But almost a week later, JA was called to a disciplinary meeting with his parents at Muirlands.
At that meeting, JA was told that he would be suspended from school for two days and would not be allowed to attend future athletic events because he was wearing “black face” to the football match. The notice of suspension only indicated that he was suspended because he “painted his face blackened at a football match,” and the alleged offense was flagged as “Offensive comment, with intent to cause harm.” JA’s father told the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a First Amendment nonprofit organization, that no one complained or said anything negative about his son’s black eyes during the game. The school principal also did not indicate how they became aware of the incident.
As Aaron Terr, director of public advocacy at FIRE, notes in a Nov. 8 letter to Muirlands Middle School: “YES’s not–‘Disruptive, objectively harmless’ make-up is an absolutely constitutionally protected expression.
In the letter, FIRE reminds school officials that “public school students do not surrender their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate.” It states that “the First Amendment protects JA’s non-disruptive expression of team spirit through a style commonly used by athletes and fans.”
Eye black applied under the eyes and even on the cheeks is not blackface, and to suggest it as such is a gross mischaracterization. Blackface is dark makeup applied all over the face to mimic, exaggerate, and mock black people. JA was just cheering on his local football team with friends – and there’s no reason to punish him for that.
In the thirties Babe Rutte was the first professional athlete to be seen with black eyes. Ruth believed that black grease worn under the eyes blocked the sun’s glare during games. Now athletes may wear eyes black to avoid glare, to puff themselves up, or maybe just because they are superstitious. And fans wear it to show support and courage for their beloved teams, just as they would wear a hat, jersey or even body paint.
I proudly wore eye black to water polo matches and swimming meets in high school. We called it “war paint.” And last Sunday, as I jumped, cheered and booed at Lincoln Financial Field as the Philadelphia Eagles faced the Dallas Cowboys, it was hard to find a player. not wear eye black.
“Muirlands Middle School administrators should find time to watch a few NFL games this Sunday,” says Terr Rode. Perhaps then they will realize that athletes and fans often liberally cover their faces with black eyes, whether to appear cool, show team spirit or intimidate their opponents. The student was engaging in a fun and harmless form of self-expression. “
FIRE is calling on Muirlands to lift the ban on JA’s participation in future athletics events and remove the offense from his record.