PRINCIPAL APOLOGIZES TO BLACK STUDENTS OVER 'PARTY LIKE IT'S 1776' PROM THEME
A new Jersey principal apologized to minority students for the phrase “party like it’s 1776” imprinted on tickets to the school’s upcoming senior prom to be held at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
Cherry Hill High School East Principal Dennis Perry sent a letter to students, parents and other community members Friday apologizing for the “insensitive” wording that led to complaints from African-American and minority students. Perry said it was “irresponsible” for he and other prom organizers to overlook the historical fact that “not all communities can celebrate what life was like in 1776,” a time of slavery in America. The American Revolutionary War theme for the event was intended to pair with the National Constitution Center venue, which was established after President Ronald Reagan signed the Constitution Heritage Act of 1988 to "disseminate information about the United States Constitution on a nonpartisan basis in order to increase the awareness and understanding of the Constitution among the American people."
But the message missed the mark with several minority students at Cherry Hill High School East, prompting the prom apology.
“Today, I learned that members of our school community were offended by a statement written on our Senior Prom ticket,” Dr. Dennis Perry wrote in the Friday letter. “I especially apologize to our African American students, whom I have let down by not initially recognizing the inappropriateness of this wording. You can expect that we will do better as a school community to produce well thought out, appropriate communications.”
According to the most recent state education data, the Cherry Hill, New Jersey school in Camden County lists that 6.2 percent of its students are black, 62.2 percent of the school is white and 22.4 percent of the student body identifies as Asian. The public school had 2,177 students during the 2015-16 school year, with the school’s Hispanic population at just shy of 6 percent of the overall student body.
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Why not just have a nice dance for the kids and forget about the elaborate theme? Any activity celebrating the social mores of 250 years ago is going to be problematic.
We must have solved all the major problems in the world if people can feign anger at the phrase “party like its 1776”
the principal should probably resign over the apology. Talk about sending the wrong message.
no need for any apology, some people just look for things to be offended about
Just think if they had a toga party, 2000 years of stuff to get feathers riled.
TOGA, TOGA, TOGA!
Damn, I bet there was a heck of a good time in 1776 and that is all it was meant to be. Why just the black students?
They weren't really partying much in 1776. What they did was brave and important, but they chose to put their very lives on the line for independence. It also cemented a war that would last for another 6 years. Maybe they should have said "Party like it's 1783!"