Georgia School’s Superintendent Apologizes for Alleged Blackface Incident

After students sparked viral outrage for allegedly appearing at a volleyball game in blackface last week at Whitewater High School in Fayetteville, Ga., the school district’s superintendent is speaking out.

“I want to address a serious concern from our recent athletic event at WHS,” Dr. Jonathan S. Patterson, who serves as the superintendent of Fayette County Schools, said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE.

The individuals in blackface were “a small group of individuals, including one non-Whitewater student and several adults,” Patterson said. The students, whose faces and bodies were painted black, “were quickly addressed by school administration,” he added.

Patterson condemned the use of blackface.

“We want to state clearly: it is never acceptable to paint one’s face black,” Patterson continued. “This action is deeply offensive, and it does not reflect the values of our schools or our community. We also recognize that we should have prevented these individuals from entering our athletic facility in this manner, and we regret that we did not do so. We sincerely apologize for the hurt this incident has caused to our students, families, and community.”

The superintendent vowed to stay vigilant in preventing future use of blackface on campus, saying that the school is “working closely with partners, including the NAACP, to provide training and support so that our staff can respond appropriately in the future.”

The school will also review the student code of conduct to clarify that the use of blackface is unacceptable.

“Our goal is not only to address this individual incident but also to encourage all to pause, reflect, and recognize how personal choices affect peers, teachers, families, and the broader community,” Patterson concluded.

The event was advertised as a “blackout” for the home team, encouraging fans to wear black, but not to use blackface or body paint, per WSBTV.

Georgia State Rep. Derrick Jackson, a Democrat, also condemned the incident during a press conference.

“We are here today because of the deep hurt and disharmony caused by the recent racial incident at last week’s volleyball game,” Jackson said. “The presence of blackface was an act of profound insensitivity, and the Fayette County School System’s failure to address it is unacceptable.”

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“We refuse to ignore the very real pain this has created. A policy is useless if it is not enforced, and our school system has failed its most basic responsibility to our children,” Jackson, 59, added.

Jackson called on the superintendent to “lead,” and demanded that he “take immediate and decisive action and implement disciplinary measures to those involved and that the school board work to amend the policies to keep this from ever happening again.”

“We must never sweep racial incidents in our schools under the rug; our students deserve to feel respected and protected,” Jackson said.

Several parents of students at WHS voiced their concerns over the school’s policies, with one parent calling it “demoralizing” and “dehumanizing to the human race and to the Black race” during a board of education meeting, per Atlanta News First.

Adrian Cooley, another parent with two students at the school, wrote a letter to the school, demanding an apology. He said the apology was “past due,” telling ANF, “There has to be some repercussions. This is not a ‘my bad’ thing.”

Blackface is defined as “dark makeup worn to mimic the appearance of a Black person and especially to mock or ridicule Black people,” according to Merriam-Webster. The use of blackface in the U.S. was initially recorded through “minstrel shows,” in which white performers would wear blackface and mock Black people based on negative stereotypes, according to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

PEOPLE has reached out to the Fayette County branch of the NAACP for comment.