![](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/78\/590x\/secondary\/The-child-is-only-known-as-J-A-due-to-privacy-reasons-5066876.jpg?r=1700038546540\")
<\/p>\nA teenage student, suspended from his school after wearing makeup that was deemed to be blackface, has received the backing of his parents – who claim it wasn’t racist, but in fact just war paint.<\/p>\n
The eighth grader, known only as J.A. for privacy reasons, was attending a football match between La Jolla High School and Morse High School in California last month.<\/p>\n
According to the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), the youngster wore dark face paint on his cheeks and chin as a way of supporting his team.<\/p>\n
The kid’s infuriated father said that prior to the backlash his son had “a fun, great night without any trouble”.<\/p>\n
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The father even claimed to Cal Coast News that a black security guard present at the match had encouraged him to wear more makeup.<\/p>\n
But elsewhere a storm was brewing.<\/p>\n
Barely a week later, the boy and his parents were hauled into the Muirlands Middle School in La Joila by its principal Jeff Luna.<\/p>\n
Following the meeting, the parents were told the child had been suspended for two days, and banned from all future athletic events.<\/p>\n
Don’t miss… <\/strong> A note from the meeting said J.A. “painted his face black at a football game”, an action that was deemed by Luna and the school as an “offensive comment, intent to harm”.<\/p>\n Luna also claimed the face paint was offensive to the school, which has a “largely Black” student base.<\/p>\n FIRE took on the family complaint, filing a note to the principal that detailed how the child’s First Amendment right had been violated and demanding a reversal of its decision.<\/p>\n It said: “As the First Amendment protects J.A.\u2019s non-disruptive expression of team spirit via a style commonly used by athletes and fans – notwithstanding your inaccurate description of it as \u2018blackface\u2019 – FIRE calls on the school to remove the infraction from J.A.\u2019s disciplinary record and lift the ban on his attendance at future athletic events.”<\/p>\n
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