(Joshua Paladino, Headline USA) Two diversity, equity, and inclusion officers in Arizona submitted complaints about a white DJ who wore blackface at a parent-teacher association fundraiser, but they apologized after learning that he is black, the Daily Mail reported.
Hopi Elementary School’s PTA hired DJ Kim Koko Hunter to play music at a fundraising event on April 9. The Scottsdale Unified School District pays Jill Lassen and Stuart Rhoden to monitor diversity, equity, and inclusion practices at school events.
They complained that Hunter’s 1970s disco outfit was racist. He had an Afro, a goatee, and a thin moustache, and he was wearing a gold shirt, glasses, flare pants, and elevator shoes—which the DEI experts mistook for a racist outfit intended to offend black people.
Rhoden, a black Arizona State University professor, sent an email to the school’s principal, and Lassen contacted the PTA.
Kim Koko Hunter was hired to DJ the @scottsdaleUsd PTA Disco Night. An amazing evening, raised $300k+ for Hopi. Monday morning @SPC_AZ & Dr. DEI himself, Stuart Rhoden and DEI Chairs Jill Lassen & Brad Duell accuse Koko, a black man, of blackface. Racist see racism everywhere. pic.twitter.com/TjKKM1FbAc
— Amanda Wray (@AmandaWray) April 13, 2022
Lassen, a member of the Scottsdale Parent Council DEI Committee, has a history of anti-white racism, including complaints that she has verbally abused “super rich White Karens.”
After accusing the Hopi PTA of being racist, Lassen received a response from the group’s head, Megan Livengood.
“The DJ that the Hopi PTA hire was, in fact a Black man,” Livengood said. “It is insulting that you feel myself or PTA condone racist behavior or encourage it by posting on social media.”
Livengood said Lassen did not speak with anyone in the Hopi PTA before accusing the group of racism on social media, the Arizona Daily Independent reported.
“After such a successful event to support our school it’s disheartening to to [sic] believe in organization we pay to be part of (SPC) would send out such an aggressive response without checking the facts first or simply picking up the phone to discuss,” she said about the fundraiser, which earned $300,000.
