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Christ the King High School is the latest institution under fire for racially insensitive conduct. According to a report by NY Daily News, high school senior Malcolm Xavier Combs, was denied a request to print “Malcolm X” on his senior sweater because administrators did not want to promote the iconic civil right activist who shared the same name.
A member of the Queens high school staff reportedly pulled Malcolm out of class to inform him that Malcolm X was not someone he should “want to be associated with” and that they were denying his sweater request. Combs claims that he made the appeal for his sweater simply out of the desire to abbreviate his name. Despite his harmless intentions, the negative response from school officials and the disparaging portrayal of an activist many members of the black community celebrate for his heroic fight for black uplift, encouraged Combs and his parents to further address the situation.
“They pulled him out of class to tell him that a man who said, ‘A man without an education, you have nothing,’ is someone he shouldn’t be associated with,” said Combs's mother Mychelle Combs, who along with his father have schedule a meeting with school officials and reached out to community activists to confront administrators about the decision.
Malcolm and his parents are also planning to address additional fallout from the incident, that allegedly involved teachers mocking Malcolm. After being informed of the school's decision by administrator Veronica Arbitello, Malcolm Combs alleged that Arbitello openly laughed with her husband, school basketball coach Joe Arbitello, about Malcolm's request and jokingly referred to him as “the new Malcolm X.” His parents feel that the reported treatment of their son and other students of color calls for staff members to engage in some form of racial sensitivity training.
The reported misconduct from Christ the King High School staff are just one of the many issues that have encouraged communities to question the way Black students are treated and black history is portrayed within educational spaces. At this time, schools are under increased pressure to rearrange their system to present a more diverse and accurate curriculum that addresses the heritage of all of its students.
Teen Vogue reached out to Christ the King High School for a comment but have not received a response.
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