Florida school posts pic of 4th grader in blackface

MIAMI – Some alumni at a private Catholic school in Miami are complaining about a class photo that includes a fourth-grader who painted his face black to portray former Secretary of State Colin Powell during a Black History Month celebration.

The Miami Herald reports that St. Thomas the Apostle shared the photo on Facebook and Twitter, and then removed it, after students dressed up as famous African-Americans and gave presentations about their accomplishments.

Carolina Bacallao says the child should have been asked to wash his face, and the school missed an opportunity to teach students why blackface is offensive.

Archdiocese of Miami spokeswoman Mary Ross Agosta said the student never intended “to do anything other than be authentic in his presentation of the person he selected to research and imitate.”