On Wednesday, July 31, 2024, a photo was posted to the Facebook page of Royall Elementary School in Florence, South Carolina. It was Royall’s back-to-school celebration event with an Olympics theme, as the games were currently being played in Paris.
One photo showed two people wearing dark sunglasses and shirts labeled “U.S. Border Patrol” in front of a hand-drawn brick wall. Another photo showed staff members as a group, wearing brightly colored clothes and sombreros. They all posed alongside a sign labeled “Royall Cantina,” with a table laden with of Mexican items – colorful banners, maracas and sombreros.
The photos went viral with community organizations and individuals labelling it as disgusting, racist, and unacceptable. The Florence branch of the NAACP wrote “these actions by school officials foster an agenda that has no place in public schools” The Racial Justice Network released a statement: “There was no regard for the students and how some would feel and what message they were sending to others.” The mother of a student posted, “As a Mexican American, as a Hispanic woman, as a mother of biracial Hispanic children in the Florence 1 School district. I’m highly offended, highly offended.”
As a result, Superintendent Richard O’Malley, dismissed two principals, two classroom assistants, a custodian, and placed several other employees on administrative leave. He stated they acted with “ignorance.” In a public comment the superintendent said, “My issue is, someone has to be accountable for this.”
I feel that everyone involved overreacted. Printed below is a Letter to the Editor that I submitted to the Morning News, prior to a complete report of the incident.
Letter to the Editor
We live in a society enveloped with a mandate to be politically correct coupled with an imperative to appease special interest groups. This has resulted in an environment where our decision-making process is often zealous rather than judicious. We have become a society intolerant of misguided decisions, even when malignity wasn’t intended.
Regarding the incident reported of a photo posted on Facebook of the Olympic parade at Royall Elementary School, placing some employees on administrative leave was proper, terminating other employees was unduly severe. Termination is an appropriate response for molesting a student and embezzlement, it is not a reasonable response for misconduct at a school social event that had an unintended consequence.
I am limited in my understanding of the incident to news reports and a cautious appraisal of hearsay. From this perspective I surmise the staff members involved are good people who meant no harm. They lacked forethought; they were not motivated by malice. They were unaware of the photo’s reception; they were not propelled by a desire to degrade and humiliate an ethnic group.
I ask those personally offended to be less judgmental, transitioning to understanding and acceptance of human frailties. I ask Florence One administrators to reevaluate their disciplinary decisions.
Dr. Ronald H. Love