His high school apologized for blacking him out, but Andre Jackson, a graduating senior whose kissing summoned the censors, remained unsatisfied.
Last week, a picture of Mr. Jackson kissing his boyfriend was deemed “suggestive” by the superintendent of the Newark public schools and redacted, with black marker, from the yearbook of East Side High School. Yesterday, the school district reversed course, and released a statement apologizing to Mr. Jackson and saying the yearbook would be reissued with the picture unmarked.
“Superintendent Marion A. Bolden personally apologizes to Mr. Jackson and regrets any embarrassment and unwanted attention the matter has brought to him,” read the statement, which was issued by the Newark public schools’ general counsel, Perry L. Lattiboudere. “The district takes pride in its diverse student population and supports all our students, regardless of race, gender, ethnic background or sexual orientation.”
Mr. Jackson, 18, said that nobody bothered to call him...
...In the statement, the school district said that unredacted yearbooks would be handed out to any senior on request. That did not go far enough for Mr. Jackson, who said that everyone should get the uncensored page. “It’s not about who wants one,” he said. “It’s about what happened.”
This from the New York Times.
Photo by MANNY FERNANDEZ.
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