The New Hartford Central School District in upstate New York is under investigation after displaying racist imagery that compared NBA champion LeBron James to a monkey at an art exhibit.
The poster featuring the Los Angeles Lakers star was shown at the New Hartford Festival of the Arts and was created by a student in a junior high art class in the New Hartford Central School District, according to WIBX.
The poster was meant to be a part of a fictional cereal box for “Monkey Premium Cereal.” The tagline read, “Eat Monkeys, Jump Like Monkeys!” At the bottom the poster read, “Jump like LeBron James” along with a picture of the Lakers star dunking.
The student poster also claimed that drinking the chocolate and banana-flavored cereal would make someone “jump 2-5 inches higher for about 2 hours after eating.”
The display was featured at the arts show on Saturday, May 4. It immediately went viral as photos appeared online.
“It is disheartening that racist work was not only created, but then overlooked and allowed to be displayed,” Superintendent of Schools Cosimo Tangorra Jr. wrote in a letter to the community.
“We understand that there are students, families, staff and community members who may not feel safe, accepted or welcome as a result of what transpired. Our school community deserves access to a supportive learning environment where everyone feels respected, included and safe.”
“We have fallen short of that goal, and we must do better. As a district, we will continue working to ensure all students and their families feel valued, and it requires increased education, dialogue, and action from the entire school community.”
The district superintendent confirmed that the administration has launched an investigation to understand how the project was allowed to be displayed at the event.