A Kansas mom is blaming a Black student at her daughter's school for her daughter's decision to carry a wildly racist sign for a photo celebrating her school's homecoming festivities.
The sign inspired angry backlash for its inappropriate joke about Black people picking cotton, complete with cotton balls glued to the sign for effect.
This is not the first incident in the United States with a similar sign. Prior incidents involved promposals in Minnesota and Florida.
The student's mother, Rhonda Windholz, claimed a Black student at her daughter's school, Olathe South High School in Olathe, Kansas made the sign and gave it to her daughter. This accusation has led to even more backlash.
See the photo of the sign below.
The sign that Windholz's daughter held read:
"If I was Black, I would be picking cotton, but I'm white, so I'm picking you for [Homecoming]."
The poster includes glued-on cotton balls and two check boxes labeled "yes" and "no." The photo shows Windholz's daughter holding up the sign with another White student, believed to be a student from nearby St. James Academy in Lenexa, Kansas, who was also involved in the incident.
In a statement to local news station KSHB, Windholz blamed the incident on a Black student at her daughter's school.
"One Caucasian and one African-American boy were involved. It was the African-American boy who actually made the sign, already marked up and took the picture..."
"Caught up in the excitement of being asked to her first ever homecoming, our daughter held the sign that was given to her. It was only after actually comprehending the situation, that she realized what was happening."
"She blatantly said no!! By then, it was too late."
Windholz then went on to claim her family is diverse and they believe "all lives matter."
Windholz also claimed she and her daughter received death threats because of the incident.
Windholz's response left many people unmoved, particularly because Olathe South has a history of racist incidents against Black students, according to some Black parents at the school.
One parent told KSHB the problem was so bad she pulled her daughter from the school entirely.
People on Twitter were similarly unimpressed with Windholz's response.
Both Olathe South High School and St. James Academy have launched investigations into the incident.
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