The Diocese of Lafayette has released a statement about a racist photo that appeared on social media yesterday.
The diocese says it “has investigated a racially insensitive post that appeared on social media yesterday (Monday, January 21, 2019) in reference to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The diocese has determined that a St. Edmund High School student posted the photo, which violates the school’s code of conduct and the diocesan social media policy.”
“Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel has mandated that the student who posted the photo apologize publicly to the high school student body immediately. Bishop Deshotel was deeply saddened and disturbed by the post, and believes that racism in any form demeans the human person who is created in the image and likeness of God.”
The photo shows white teens seated outside, eating Popeyes’ fried chicken. The caption on that photo says “Happy MLK Dayyyyyyyy” with a fried chicken emoji bordering those words.
This is not the first time the school has come under fire for racial insensitivity. In August 2017, a post surfaced showing students at the school in blackface. The school released a statement following that incident apologizing, saying the incident was “contrary to the values of the Roman Catholic Church and will not be tolerated.”
In that case, the St. Edmund Catholic School and the St. Landry Parish School Board worked with the Diocese of Lafayette.
KATC will not post the photo because of the hate speech and juveniles it contains.
