University of North Texas is the latest school where current students have discovered yearbook photos of former ones -- wearing blackface.
The findings were published in the most recent article of North Texas Daily, the campus newspaper. Two student reporters, Lizzy Spangler and Jasmine Robinson, found several yearbook images of white students, mainly in the 1950's and early 60's, wearing blackface. Recent controversy involving photos of Virginia's governor, and reports of similar photos found in yearbooks at other universities around the country, prompted the UNT journalists to investigate.
"It's a little bit shocking when you see it in front of you," said Robinson.
The pair spent hours searching through old university yearbooks, both online and in hard copies. What they found may have been shocking to them, they said, but not surprising.
"I think this is important to bring to light," said Robinson. "To show people UNT was not free from this type of racism."
"We need to confront it and deal with it," said Spangler. "Because if we don't, we're a little bit complicit."
UNT officials said they are not surprised by the findings. It is not uncommon to find such images in yearbooks from that time period. It doesn’t make it right, they say.
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"It's in some respects a sign of the times," said Joanne Woodard, UNT’s vice president of Institutional Equity and Diversity. "But it still has present day impact in terms of the hurt and pain it still causes for people to see these images."
Woodard said the discovery of the old photos can be used as a learning moment. She hopes the article sparks discussion on what’s acceptable – and what’s not. UNT has denounced the old photos.
The student journalists agree.
"This is something we can grow from," said Robinson. “When we do call it out as racism, we don't shy away from it. This is something that we need to call racism and condemn in a way, as journalists, so we can kind of move on."
