San Marcos High School Principal Dare Holdren addressed parents in writing this past Friday, confirming that four students at the Santa Barbara campus “portrayed blackface” in a social media post and that the school has “instituted consequences” for their actions.
The girls, whose identities have not been disclosed, posted a photo from inside an African American Studies classroom showing themselves with artificially darkened skin. The image mimicked an AI-generated picture of four young Black boys in various poses that has circulated widely on TikTok, according to Holdren’s account.
“Meet the gc🥷🥷🥷🥷🥷🥷🥷…,” the post was captioned. The ninja emoji is commonly used as a coded reference to the N-word.
Holdren wrote that the racial stereotype was reported through the school’s Safe to Speak Up system two weeks prior, and the administrative team responded promptly. “As the image has continued to circulate among students and has affected members of our school community, we believe it is important to address it with our broader community as well,” he continued.
The principal noted that school officials contacted the offenders’ families and “are working to educate the students about the impact of their actions,” He added, “Racial stereotypes are harmful and have no place in our schools.”
Holdren emphasized the broader lesson the school hopes to impart: “Regardless of intent, students need to understand the impact their words, images, and actions can have on others.” The exact consequences imposed on the four teens remain unclear.
Santa Barbara Unified School District Superintendent Hilda Maldonado condemned the post in an interview with Noozhawk, placing it in historical context. “Blackface has a long history of dehumanizing and humiliating Black people,” she said. “What happened was harmful.”
Maldonado expanded on the emotional toll for those within the school community. “For Black students, staff, and families and for anyone who has experienced being ‘othered,’ this incident can raise a painful question for students and staff: Will I always be judged by my skin color rather than by my humanity?”
“No child or staff member should have to carry that feeling into school,” she added.
The incident is not the first racial controversy to shake the district. According to the Santa Barbara Independent, a San Marcos High School substitute teacher read the N-word aloud during a reading of “Of Mice and Men” last year after being explicitly told not to, and was subsequently removed from campus.
At a June 9 community meeting, students voiced ongoing concerns about the campus climate. “Black students do not feel safe here, and I have personally lost friends who moved away because of it,” one student told attendees.
Maldonado acknowledged that repairing the district’s culture would require sustained effort rather than quick fixes. “I cannot promise that one statement, one lesson, or one initiative will change our culture overnight,” she said. “This is not a one-and-done issue. But I can promise that we will keep listening, learning, examining ourselves, and doing this work.”