“In America, we stand proudly on the idea that the accused are innocent until proven guilty. We can’t let cancel culture trample on such a fundamental principle” Center for American Liberty
In a recent incident at Muirlands Middle School in California, a 13-year-old student, known as J.A., faced a two-day suspension and a ban from attending district sporting events for wearing eye black to a football game. The situation has stirred controversy, with accusations that the eye black constituted “blackface,” leading to a legal battle between the student’s family and school officials.
Daniel Ameduri, J.A.’s father, expressed surprise at the suspension, emphasizing that there were no complaints or incidents during the football game. J.A. explained that he applied the black eye paint, a common practice among football players, in a manner consistent with his past experiences. A Black security guard reportedly complimented J.A. on his eye black, suggesting that the spikes should go higher. Ameduri expressed shock, stating, “Then the following Monday, Tuesday, nothing… It’s just ridiculous that this would be a racial incident.” He further asserted, “The only people showing absolute racism right now is the school and the school administrators. There wasn’t even a real investigation,” according to statements made on “Fox & Friends.”
Efforts to resolve the issue by presenting a photo from the night in question were met with the school principal insisting that it constituted “blackface.”, “He was like, ‘No, that’s blackface,'” Ameduri said “Fox & Friend. The family’s lawyer, Karin Sweigart, emphasized the need for a substantial disruption on campus to restrict students’ out-of-school speech rights and stated, “Here the school is just going way beyond the constitutional strictures that they have to be able to regulate student speech.”
The Principal Jeff Luna reportedly said it was offensive by claiming that Morse High School, one of the teams playing, was “Largely Black”, according to Cal Coast News. Sweigart countered that J.A. was simply emulating “eye black warrior paint,” a common practice among athletes. The lawsuit, filed in the Southern District of California, argues that the school district violated J.A.’s First Amendment right to free speech and failed to provide due process.
The Center for American Liberty, representing the family, aims to remove the suspension from J.A.’s school record, asserting that it could impact his future opportunities for high school, college, and certain occupations. The organization website says, “J.A. is suing to remove this false and baseless allegation of racist hate violence from his school records so that he can continue his education without the stain of an accusation of racist behavior.”
“We’re suing the principal directly, the superintendent and then the people who made the decision to rubber-stamp the principal’s ridiculous decision to suspend J.A.,” Sweigart told “Fox & Friends.”