Covington Catholic High School Alumni Push Back Against Media’s New ‘Blackface’ Claim

While the photo’s origins couldn’t be verified, the official Covington Catholic High School YouTube account published a video last January boasting its basketball school spirit, and several clips, including one from 2012, which showcase attendees chanting in black face, a mockery of the opposing players. The school took down the video later on Monday.

In response to the “blackface” allegations, several people claiming to be Covington alumni pushed back on social media.

One, Andrew Schult, said that the school regularly had “blackout,” “whiteout,” and “blueout” themes to its games, which had nothing to do with race:

That was my first game my senior year of high school. I was #32. Blackout was the theme. These people are out of their minds.

— Andrew Schult (@schult_andrew) January 22, 2019

Correction. I graduated in 2011. We also played them our first game. My mistake. Still. This is me in my senior year. We did blackout my final game of regionals. pic.twitter.com/HHVByDoEVe

— Andrew Schult (@schult_andrew) January 22, 2019

Schult also posted several images of Covington sporting events — including one with students in blue paint:

Here are more from my senior year. We did this every game. pic.twitter.com/mh7KiY78zW

— Andrew Schult (@schult_andrew) January 22, 2019

One person claiming to be an alumnus also claimed to be in the background of one of the “blackface” images:

Lmaoooo. I was at this game SEVEN YEARS AGO. SEVEN! I’m shown in the background of this image. ITS CALLED A BLACKOUT THEME. WE HAD SCHOOL SPIRIT. WE DO THIS TO EVERY SCHOOL NO MATTER THE RACE OR ETHNICITY. Stop trying to force a fake story to drive your false narrative. https://t.co/9CRZZFxpeW

— Ryan Toler (@ryantoler_) January 22, 2019

Other, similar photographs began appearing on social media to dispute the media’s newest accusations:

More blue outs and a “geek theme.” pic.twitter.com/Glw4wvdO9C

— Cassandra Fairbanks (@CassandraRules) January 22, 2019

It is simply appalling! In addition to the “Black Out” in 2011 they had a “White Out” in 2015 and a *GASP* “Blue Out” in 2010! Is not color safe from these monsters! pic.twitter.com/Buc9aNnKJZ

— Paul Goodman (@SkepticalPaul) January 22, 2019

President Donald Trump has weighed in on the original story, tweeting Tuesday morning: “Nick Sandmann and the students of Covington have become symbols of Fake News and how evil it can be.”

He added: “They have captivated the attention of the world, and I know they will use it for the good – maybe even to bring people together. It started off unpleasant, but can end in a dream!”
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.