Look: Two High School Trump Supporters Wear White Power Shirts During Homecoming
Polson High School administrators quickly sprung to action when two juniors were seen wearing offensive pro-Trump clothing during a homecoming event.
On Thursday, the unidentified Montana students wore T-shirts that read “Trump 2016 White Pride" and "White Power.” One of the students had a Confederate Flag on the front of his shirt. Shortly after school officials were made aware of the clothing, the students were called to the superintendent’s office and instructed to change.
Although the students changed out of their offensive clothing, the two were already photographed in the racist shirts. The pictures were posted to Facebook and quickly went viral.
“Those pictures have circulated far past Polson,” said Polson Superintendent Rex Weltz. “The Polson High School staff did not condone this conduct and addressed the incident with the students.”
The offensive clothing was worn during “Color Wars,” which is one of several themed homecoming days of the week. This day, which many high schools have during homecoming, prompts students to wear the color assigned to their class.
This year, the junior class at Polson had to wear white. During the homecoming event, students of each class are photographed in a group photo on the bleachers. The students' racist shirts were photographed in their class photo.
Although Weltz says that appropriate action will be taken against the students, Dustin Monroe, CEO and founder of Native Generational Change in Missoula, is encouraging peaceful protests to take place.
Monroe called Native Americans on the reservation to participate in a “peaceful response” to the “racist incident that happened at Polson High School” by gathering at Polson’s homecoming football game on Friday night.
Monroe encouraged participants to bring signs reading “Stand Against Racism,” “Proud to Be Native, “Unite Against Racism” and “Native Lives Matter,” among others.
“We’re not targeting these students,” Monroe said. “My youth members brought this to my attention, and wanted to respond. We’re trying to deal with a systemic problem.”
