Outrage at Denver high school over posters directed at Black and Latina Female Students

By: DAVID MCCORMACK FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

A poster campaign at a Denver high school has caused outrage among students who’ve deemed the content grossly offensive and racially insensitive.

The posters, entitled 101 Things Black And Latina Girls Should Know, appeared earlier this week at Martin Luther King Jr. Early College in the Green Valley Ranch area of the Colorado capital.

While few doubt that the poster was created with good intentions, many students felt the execution was so poor that they complained to administrators.

As the title suggests, the poster was filled with supposedly well intentioned advice for minority female students.

A number of the messages were quite positive statements such as ‘your body is beautiful just the way it is’, but other more offensive ones included:

• Wearing too much makeup looks like a clown.

• Twerkin’ and grinding ain’t cute.

• Experience holding a book (not a kindle or reading on the internet) this is so important for you to remember how far you have come as Black and Brown people.

‘There are some things that should not be said at all,’ student Christina Arzate told FOX31.

She was part of a group of students who complained to school authorities after reading some of the statements on the posters.

A child psychologist agrees with the students and believes that directing the messages just toward certain races is misguided

‘It was just a shock that in this day and age we would be almost racially profiling our young girls,’ Dr. Sheryl Ziegler told FOX24.

‘I think the percentage of kids getting something from this, who will think twice about their hygiene or appearance, I think is much less than if they thought more carefully regarding the sensitivity on the delivery of it.’

A separate poster created by the school was called 101 Things Every Young Man Of Color Should Know. It too included a number of offensive and stereotypical messages including ‘There are easier ways to make money than playing professional sports or rapping’.

‘That’s highly offensive, that’s pretty derogatory toward very specific groups of people,’ student Victor Corrl said.

The controversial posters have been taken down and the school district has said that it is reviewing the situation.

‘Denver Public Schools seeks to ensure that the diverse cultures of our students and community are valued and respected,’ said the district in a statement.

‘We understand the concerns raised by those who found the poster offensive and are reviewing this situation so that we can help prevent issues like this in the future. And, we will continue our work to support responsible and effective conversations about diversity in our schools.’