On Tuesday, the Independent published an article on an incident regarding Blackface at San Marcos High School that was posted to our social media platforms. Here are just a few of the comments I got to dig through as the Independent’s Social Media Manager:
“Not even close to Blackface.. Can the liberal media stop reaching.”
“They were not being racist. Imitation is also a form of flattery.”
“Why are people so sensitive? I don’t think it’s a big deal.”
“So the thinking here is that these girls are racist and don’t like Black people and are making fun of these super cute kids. To me it looked like they were trying to imitate them because they thought they looked cool, end of story.”
“A small harmless joke.”
About two weeks ago, a group of unnamed students at San Marcos High posted a photo of themselves to TikTok imitating a group of dark-skinned boys. This TikTok trend usually involves users imitating the various poses of these AI-generated boys to the song Back 2 Back.
Trends like this are common, but what made this post so controversial is the girls’ unnaturally dark skin and a caption that read: ‘Meet the group chat, N-word, N-word, N-word.’ The ninja emoji used is actually a placeholder for the pejorative, one that’s commonly used to bypass Tiktok’s moderation system, part of a popular code speak that’s proliferated on this platform with emojis like corn being used to replace the word ‘porn.’
People had a lot of different reactions. Some questioned whether or not this counted as Blackface at all. From the photos it looks like the girl’s skin tone could have just been the result of a bad spray tan. Some argue that the girls were just participating in a fun trend.
However, if you put the post in the context of a school district in which there have been multiple accusations of racist behavior towards Black students and teachers in recent history, the issue becomes a bit more tricky.
Whether or not what these girls did qualifies as Blackface, there’s a clear line being crossed here, something that when you see it just makes you feel icky; whether it’s the color of the girls skin, these AI-generated Black boys being used at the butt of a joke, or the use of the n-word or its proxy used in the caption.
Black populations in Santa Barbara make up less than 2% of the city, though the exact number of students in the district or at San Marcos High is unclear. What we do know is that in November of 2024, the school board established the Committee Advancing Black Achievement, Wellness, and Excellence; a standing advisory meant to review incidents like this and see that consequences are dealt. Then, in October of 2025, the Independent reported on an incident at San Marcos High School in which a substitute teacher was removed after reportedly reading the n-word aloud in a reading of Of Mice and Men. Not long after, in June of 2026, a group of Black students attended a Santa Barbara School Board meeting reporting that racial slurs had increased in use across campuses. In August of 2026, a Black teacher from San Marcos High School even submitted an opinion piece to the Independent describing an incident in which they found a paper with the N-word (hard R) written on it in large letters.
So, clearly there is an issue with racial harassment persisting in SBU and at San Marcos high in particular, that’s affecting Santa Barbara’s Black community. And the administration knows it.
After the incident, San Marcos High principal Dare Holdren wrote the following in an emailed message to the san marcos community:
“Racial stereotypes are harmful and have no place in our schools. Regardless of intent, students need to understand the impact their words, images, and actions can have on others.”
But as of now, with this particular situation, it’s unclear what, if any, consequences these students have received. But what’s even more unclear is whether or not students at San Marcos High are able to actually understand the harm their actions and words, intended as a joke or not, can bring to their few Black classmates and teachers.
Issues of racial harassment are very rarely Black or White. A lot of harm can come from unintended consequences. Maybe our question shouldn’t be, is this Blackface or not, but rather how do these incidents affect those who remain in the minority and what can we do to educate those who aren’t.
