A racist posterboard featuring images of LeBron James and monkeys was somehow put on display at a school art exhibition over the weekend … and officials are now investigating how in the world the offensive piece was allowed to make it there.
The project — a parody of a cereal advertisement called “Monkey Premium” — was done by a New Hartford Central School District student in New York … and then showed off in a school gymnasium at the New Hartford Festival of the Arts event on Saturday.
It had a headline of “Eat Monkeys, Jump Like Monkeys!” … with a picture of James mid-flight in his Lakers uniform next to a bowl of cereal.
Some of the text on the board promised that a consumer of the food — which was shaped like monkeys and bananas — would “jump 2-5 inches higher for about 2 hours” after eating it.
As you’d expect, it was met with a ton of outrage given its obvious nods to racist tropes … and on Monday, Superintendent of Schools Cosimo Tangorra Jr. said in a statement to parents in the community that officials are looking into the matter.
“It is disheartening that racist work was not only created,” Tangorra Jr. said, “but then overlooked and allowed to be displayed.”
Tangorra Jr. said the person who created the work has been ID’ed and contacted by officials. However, because of privacy reasons, details surrounding the student could not be made public. Further information regarding a possible punishment could not be released, either, Tangorra Jr. said.
“We understand that there are students, families, staff and community members who may not feel safe, accepted or welcome as a result of what transpired,” Tangorra Jr. said. “Our school community deserves access to a supportive learning environment where everyone feels respected, included and safe.”
“We have fallen short of that goal, and we must do better,” he continued. “As a district, we will continue working to ensure all students and their families feel valued, and it requires increased education, dialogue, and action from the entire school community.”