Middle School Student Who Covered Face in Eyeblack Suspended After Being Accused of ‘Blackface’ 

A middle schooler in San Diego was suspended after covering the lower half of his face with eyeblack at a high school football game.

The administration believed the student's eyeblack, which players wear under their eyes to reduce glare on the field, was a form of blackface.

The Muirlands Middle School student, who is being referred to as J.A., wore the paint at a game between Morse High School and La Jolla High School on October 13.

A week later, J.A. was called into a disciplinary meeting with his parents at Muirlands where he was told he was being suspended from school for two days and was no longer allowed to attend future athletic events because he wore "blackface" to the football game.

According to the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a First Amendment nonprofit, the disciplinary notice describes J.A.’s alleged offense as "painted his face black at a football game" and categorizes the incident as "Offensive comment, intent to harm."

The punishment has been met with backlash online, as people have pointed out that eye black is something that athletes commonly do and is not comparable to blackface.

FIRE has called on Muirlands "to lift the ban on J.A.'s attendance at future athletic events and to remove the infraction from his record."