Washington students stage walkout over racist school dance invite

Students at a Washington state high school staged a walkout in the pouring rain Wednesday to protest a classmate’s racist invitation to a school dance.

Hundreds of teenagers at Issaquah High School organized the protest over a picture posted to social media which showed a teenage boy and girl holding a poster that reads “[Redacted], if I was black, I’d be picking cotton but instead I pick you. TOLO?” KOMO News reported.

TOLO, the outlet reported, is an upcoming dance at the high school, which is located in a suburb east of Seattle.{mosads}

The picture began circulating online after it was posted over the weekend. Issaquah High Principal Andrea McCormick denounced the photo Monday, saying the school does not condone acts of racism or hate.

“This situation does highlight that as a school, district and community we still have a lot of work to do. We want to use this negative experience to grow,” McCormick wrote in a statement.

School district officials are investigating the students seen in the picture, KOMO News reported. The teenagers could face disciplinary actions such as partial suspension or expulsion.

The girl photographed has reportedly apologized for her involvement online.

“There always has to be grace and forgiveness in this situation,” said senior Alex Liu during the walkout. “I feel like no matter how hard it is, it’s important to realize that she made a mistake, she has owned up to the mistake and she is definitely paying the price for what she has done.”

A pair of Minnesota high school students were condemned earlier this year for a Nazi-themed high school dance invite that invoked Adolf Hitler.

“Sweethearts would be a Hit(ler) w/you, and I could Nazi myself going w/anybody else. Be Mein? Yes or Nein,” the invite poster read.