Covington Catholic students defend racist school culture and blackface taunting of players
As Nick Sandmann, the Covington Catholic High School student makes the media rounds defending his obnoxious behavior smirking and challenging a Native American elder, two more classmates took to TV to defend wearing blackface in a controversial video that resurfaced.
—WATCH: Racist video appears to show Covington Catholic students in Blackface—
Two seniors, Sam Schroder and Grant Hillman, spoke to Fox & Friends on Wednesday about a 2015 YouTube video that caused outrage online after it showed students reportedly screaming in the face of a Black basketball player, while some of the students also wore blackface reports The Daily Mail.
Video also surfaced of students wearing painted Black faces at various pep rallies between 2011 and 2012.
The host Steve Doocy posed the question to Schroder: “Five years ago, there was a pep rally where one of the members of the school body appeared to have blackface on. People have even asked you to explain that. How do you explain that?”
Said Schroder: “I just explain it as showing school spirit. We have many themes. Like nerd, business, whiteout, blueout, blackout – as you’ve seen in the video.
“Ever since I’ve gone to CovCath, we haven’t been able to wear black paint because of the video, but I know the kids meant nothing by it, it’s just showing school spirit.”
Steve Doocy asks a CovCath kid about others wearing blackface at basketball games, and he says since he’s been there “we haven’t been able to wear black paint because of the video, but I know the kids meant nothing by it, it’s just showing school spirit.” pic.twitter.com/rbuO5CKIts
— Bobby Lewis (@revrrlewis) January 23, 2019
In the video from January 2018 called “Colonel Crazies Compilation Video,” numerous students wore black paint all over their body and face for what was considered as a “blackout”, a school tradition, the NY Post reports.
There is also a photograph circulating on social media that many believe shows a game between Covington Catholic and “Clark County,” with students apparently screaming at the Black player in blackface.
Brooklyn prep school still struggles to address racial problems after viral blackface video
The video has since been deleted.
Trump supports Covington Catholic students
Donald Trump can’t bring himself to find common ground to open up the government, but he did find time to praise the students of Covington Catholic school who went viral over the weekend for taunting a Native American elder.
The president threw his support behind them much like he did for the white supremacists in Charlottesville.
Trump took to Twitter to publicly defend Sandmann, the smirking MAGA-hat wearing Catholic schoolboy at the center of Saturday’s controversy.
Sandmann sat down with NBC’s “The Today Show” but he was not apologetic and appeared defiant of his critics saying, “I had every right to do so” to confront Nathan Phillips, the tribal elder.
“As far as standing there, I had every right to do so. I don’t – I – my position is that I was not disrespectful to Mr. Phillips. I respect him. I’d like to talk to him. I mean – in hindsight I wish we could have walked away and avoided the whole thing.”
