Source: screenshot

A North Carolina high school has been reprimanded by its school district for having a pair of doors inside the building “decorated” as being “colored” and “white” entrances last week in a Black History Month commemoration gone wrong.

A photo of the doors at Charlotte West High School shows a makeshift sign above them reading “Sears Department Store 1930.” The image went viral and has been widely shared on social media.

A post shared by HBCU PRIDE NATION #HBCUPride! (@hbcupridenation)

While there was no context provided with the photo, if any of the annual Black History Month failures are any indication, teachers and/or administrators at Charlotte West High School apparently thought it would be a good idea to show its students what racial segregation was really like in a state with a history of resisting the racial integration of schools.

The incident happened on Valentine’s Day, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS), which oversees Charlotte West High School and explained in a statement what it said happened, according to WCCB-TV:

“The school district is required to provide social studies and history lessons to all our students in an age-appropriate manner. Teachers at West Charlotte High School decorated doors that displayed inappropriate content. The activity is not aligned to State Standards or with CMS curriculum and approved lesson plans.

Once school leadership was made aware of the doors, the displays were immediately removed. This happened over the course of a few hours in one school day on February 14, 2024.

Source: NC School Doors ‘Decorated’ With ‘Colored’ And ‘White’ Entrances For Black History Month