You Won't Believe What Ended Up in This Oakland Elementary School's Yearbook That Had Parents Livid
This year's theme for an Oakland school's yearbook was 'Celebrating 100 years.' Parent volunteers at Montclair Elementary School took it seriously, pulling archived pictures and articles to include in their kids' books. But despite multiple parents having multiple eyes on the final product, they seemingly missed a racial slur printed in an old article, and it didn't take long for students to point it out.
Sloane Young's eight-year-old daughter attends Montclair, where the error occurred. When she saw the racial slur printed in her yearbook, she went straight to her mother, a Black woman and president of the PTA. 'I have a very bold, outspoken eight-year-old, and when she saw it, she said, 'Mom, why did you allow this to go in the yearbook when you're Black,'' Young told KTVU.
In the racist entry from 1940, an annual carnival is portrayed saying, 'Boy and Girl Scouts will have charge of booths and many attractions such as n****r babies.' The photo also depicted little white kids throwing balls at Black kids with the sign 'Hit the N****r Baby' painted on top.
'The description of the game, once you start Googling it, is horrific,' PTA President Young said. Hundreds of books were handed out to students, with many students getting their books signed by their peers before the mistake was recognized.
As for how such a careless mistake even happened, Young said volunteers simply didn't read before adding to the collage. 'Unfortunately, they skimmed the first paragraph of that article, and scanned it into the software we use for the yearbook,' she continued.
She continued taking full responsibly for the racist mistake under her leadership. But the Montclair community was still left with concerns and overall mistrust for the school. Brenda Mitchell, a student's grandmother, told ABC 7, 'I was like, what the hell is this?'
Mitchell continued, 'This is 2025… 1900s, what do the kids need to know about?' She added, 'Why would you bring that out? Why would you even put that in there? It was very inappropriate. Very inappropriate.'
The school's principal, David Kloker, invited parents last week 'for a circle about racial equity' hoping to bridge the 'larger narrative of racial hostility felt by some families and students' at the school. Kloker also emailed parents formally apologizing for the hurtful entry. He added how stickers would be provided for students to cover up the racial slurs… but not all of the parents were down with that idea.
'Put a sticker over it. What do you mean, put a sticker over it?' Mitchell asked. Another parent agreed, adding, 'That's unacceptable. What they should have done is collected all the yearbooks and redone them, and then passed them back out.'
In a separate email, Young announced new yearbooks have been ordered. 'And I will be here all summer ensuring that every family, either the yearbook is mailed out or I swap it out for them personally,' she said. Young also announced she's stepping down from the yearbook committee.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Vine City residents protest planned Georgia Power substation in Westside neighborhood
Community members met with Georgia Power about plans to build a substation in their Vine City neighborhood. This week, protestors rallied outside the proposed substation site at Foundry and Magnolia streets in Northwest Atlanta. 'When they say get back, we say fight back!' the protestors chanted. 'Shame, shame, shame!' 'Money over people should never be what you want. Profit over people,' said one protester. There is another substation, a school, homes, and businesses. Georgia Powers said the substation would boost power to the entire power grid and provide reliability and efficiency for the area's growing energy demands, like the new Centennial Yards project in downtown. TRENDING STORIES: On-ramp to I-85 from the Buford Spring connector shut down for bridge cracks Threat of strong, severe storms Friday night through Saturday morning Body of missing 17-year-old boater found in Lake Allatoona But protestors said that because the substation will be built in a predominantly Black neighborhood, they believe the project is a form of environmental injustice. 'We, being a disadvantaged, underprivileged neighborhood, they feel they can come in and set up a power station and there wouldn't be any outcry from the community, but that's not the case,' resident Steven Muhammad told Channel 2's Audrey Washington. 'What do you say to folks who say this is a form of environmental injustice?' Washington asked Georgia Power Regional Director Misty Fernandez. 'We would never compromise public health or safety, and we are confident these facilities do not create a health risk for the community,' Fernandez said. Georgia Power expects to break ground on the project this month. Washington asked with all the opposition why the utility company needs to build in Vine City. 'The investment that Georgia Power is making in this substation and transmission line in this neighborhood will benefit all of the downtown area and the westside of Atlanta,' Regional Director of Georgia Power Misty Fernandez said.
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Yahoo
Researchers delve into history of Utah's ‘buffalo soldiers,' create trail recalling their presence
For perhaps the first time, Utah historians have organized much of the history surrounding the Black soldiers who served in Utah in the post-Civil War era to make sure it isn't forgotten. 'We didn't have any idea what we were getting ourselves into, and it's just mountains of information we've been able to bring to light because of this,' said Ian Wright, director of the Utah Cultural Site Stewardship Program, which is overseeing the effort. The research started in 2023 and the historians involved have created the Buffalo Soldier Heritage Trail linking several sites of note involving those first Black soldiers, known at the time as buffalo soldiers. Public events are set for Friday and Saturday at three of the sites, with signage geared to the general public to eventually be placed at the locations to promote interest in the history. 'A lot of folks know about the buffalo soldiers, but they don't usually connect them to Utah,' Wright said. Around a quarter of all African-American soldiers who served in the western United States in the period of westward U.S. settlement following the Civil War, though, came through the state, he said. As part of the initial public presentation of project findings, three simultaneous talks are scheduled for Friday at the Fort Douglas Military Museum in Salt Lake City, the Price Prehistoric Museum in Price and the Uintah County Heritage Museum in Vernal. On Saturday, driving tours will be held through three areas of note in the history of buffalo soldiers in Utah, starting in Salt Lake City, Price and Vernal. Participants must register online and organizers will send additional event details to those signing up to take part. Wright said some of the buffalo soldier history has been preserved in places like Carbon and Uintah counties and Fort Douglas, where some of the soldiers were stationed. 'But for the large part, it's kind of been overlooked a little bit here in Utah. One of our goals is to connect back into that larger story and bring this history to life, to help to safeguard that,' he said. 'The information's out there; it had just never kind of been pulled together in a way where people could see.' Two regiments of buffalo soldiers, the 24th Infantry at Fort Douglas and the 9th Calvary at Fort Duchesne, served in Utah, part of the U.S. military contingent assigned to the American West to protect settlers moving to the area. Wright said their presence was most pronounced in Utah from around 1878 to 1901. Well over 1,000 buffalo soldiers served in Utah, he estimates, with varied roles in Ford Douglas, Fort Duchesne, Carter Military Road, Gate and Nine Mile canyons, Moab, Helper, Price and Vernal, the key stops on the Buffalo Soldier Heritage Trail. While their official role was to protect settlers from attacks by the Native American population, the buffalo soldiers faced other challenges, notably discrimination from within the military ranks and from the communities they served. 'Not only is it a military story, it's an American story, it's a Western story, it's an African American story. It's just got so many neat nuances,' Wright said. Wright and his team, which operates under the umbrella of the Utah State Historic Preservation Office, have been working with the Sema Hadithi African American Heritage and Cultural Foundation, based in West Valley City. Reps from the University of Utah's American West Center, the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management have also helped. Much of the history they've organized and unearthed is available online and in an audiobook.
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Yahoo
More bus lanes proposed for busy Flatbush Avenue corridor in Brooklyn
BROOKLYN, N.Y. (PIX11) — New York City transportation experts are proposing major changes for what they've dubbed one of 'Brooklyn's most dangerous corridors.' The Department of Transportation announced proposals for new bus lanes along Brooklyn's Flatbush Avenue stretching from Livingston Street to Grand Army Plaza on Friday. More Transit News 'Almost 70,000 daily bus riders are stuck waiting too long for slow buses, drivers are caught in a mess of traffic, and pedestrians are left crossing intersections clogged with vehicles,' said NYC DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez. The proposal seeks to create center-running bus lanes along Flatbush Avenue with new pedestrian spaces with the intention of improving traffic safety and reducing pedestrian crossing times. Center-running lanes would also help dramatically increase bus speeds by creating physically separated spaces for buses and reducing conflicts with personal vehicles, officials say. More Local News 'This plan will drastically improve the commute times for the tens of thousands of daily riders who live on Flatbush Avenue – many of whom rely on public transportation to get to work,' MTA President Demetrius Crichlow. Currently, Flatbush Avenue is a Vision Zero Priority Corridor, meaning it's one of the most dangerous streets in Brooklyn, with 55 people killed or severely injured since 2019. Bus speeds have also been recorded to be slower than four miles per hour during rush hours which is about the same speed as a person walking, according to the DOT. More: Latest News from Around the Tri-State Buses along Flatbush Avenue primarily serve Black, female, and low-income riders, a majority of who have household incomes of less than $80,000 a year, researchers from a Pratt Center study found. Many riders in the area have complained of long wait times in extreme weather, transportation experts say. With center-running lanes, NYC DOT would install concrete bus boarding islands in the street for pedestrians. The agency plans to continue community engagement throughout the spring to get feedback from residents, businesses and commuters. Dominique Jack is a digital content producer from Brooklyn with more than five years of experience covering news. She joined PIX11 in 2024. More of her work can be found here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
