Black Lives Matter: Student forced to take off BLM mask at graduation ceremony

In a shocking incident, a US student was forced to take off his Black Lives Matter face mask in order to graduate. As per reports, Dean Holmes, who is a student in York Catholic High School in Pennsylvania, had put on a BLM mask under his face shield at his graduation ceremony. However, while students lined up before the ceremony, the school’s principal pulled Dean away and asked him to take off the mask, his family assets.

While taking to Facebook, Dean’s father, John, said that school stifled his freedom of expression and jeopardised his health. John informed that the school did not issue any specific warnings about what was an 'unacceptable' mask or clothing etiquette. However, they did release a flowery letter that extolled the virtues of York Catholic High’s commitment to diversity. 

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John wrote, "My son literally was discriminated against in plain sight based on his race and his prior civil rights activism, and this latest action is part of a pattern and practice of discrimination at York Catholic and it cannot stand unchallenged”. 

He further added, “The dissatisfaction that he felt by being pulled out of line and forced to remove his mask was both incalculable and traumatic and will follow him the rest of his life”. 

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‘Standard decorum’ to not wear messages 

Meanwhile, the school in a statement said that it was a standard decorum for students to not wear any messages. Arthur Full, who is the chairman of the York Catholic School Board, is reported to have said that any graduate student would have been asked to remove the mask with a message on it. The chairman also added that two other students previously asked and were given permission to wear a solid colour mask under the face shield, unlike Dean. 

As per reports, the school, in the statement, re-emphasise that it believes in the dignity of all human persons, and the equal treatment of all people. Without referring to the incident, the school added that its students, faculty, and alumni were encouraged to engage in personal conversations and grow as a supportive community.

(Image: JuneHolmes/Facebook) 

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