Chilliwack school admin knew about blackface yearbook photo in 2017, emails show

CHILLIWACK (NEWS 1130) – When a picture in a 2017 Chilliwack high school yearbook depicting a student in blackface resurfaced this year, the school’s principal responded with an open apology.

But documents obtained by NEWS 1130 show the school’s administration was aware of the photograph soon after it was published – and it’s not clear whether any apologies were offered at the time.

In June 2020, a former Chilliwack resident posted the photo online after seeing the school expressing solidarity with anti-racist protests in response to the police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota. She felt the school’s messaging was hypocritical, considering it published the racist photo just three years prior.

“You can’t tell me a school that allows blackface in their yearbook actually cares about black students and other minority students,” Makena Lejeune, who was a Grade 12 student at a nearby school in 2017, wrote on Instagram.

“I remember it being in the yearbook, and I remember my friends going to the staff about it and them just doing nothing, them just disregarding the issue and just staying silent about it,” Lejeune told NEWS 1130 in June.

Photo ‘just proves how ignorant and racist this school is’

G.W. Graham Secondary principal Chuck Lawson fielded a flurry of emails on June 8, as Lejeune’s post spread online.

In early June this year, Lawson received several emails expressing the anger, pain and heartbreak they felt after seeing the picture, documents obtained via a freedom of information request show.

“This is so unacceptable,” one person told Lawson. “Racism is traumatizing. I can’t imagine how it feels to be a black student who went to GWG seeing this in their yearbook.”

“This is disgusting and I wanted to [tell] you that black lives are not something to be made fun,” reads another email, which goes on to say the picture “just proves how ignorant and racist this school is.”

Another writer told Lawson they were “extremely appalled” and that the publication of the photo in the yearbook sent the wrong message to students: “that this blatant racism is OK.”

Principal apologized in private and public

Lawson responded promptly to each of the emails, calling the photo “offensive and inappropriate” and offering apologies, as well as his cell phone number, encouraging the writers to speak with him on the topic.

Several writers demanded he take disciplinary action against the teachers involved in the initial incident and publication of the yearbook.

“Unfortunately, I am unable to respond regarding any disciplinary action with staff so I ask that you trust me regarding my efforts with addressing the concern,” Lawson responded. “I know I am asking a lot for you to trust me after the actions that took place at my school, but I hope you can find it in you to trust me.”

‘This is completely unacceptable’: 2017 email

The school also received at least one complaint in June, 2017.

“So, why is there a kid doing blackface in the yearbook? That is completely unacceptable. Why would you have this approved and put in print?” someone wrote to the school.

Helen Plummer, then a vice principal at GWG, wrote to fellow VP Matthew Brooks, explaining the context for the photograph. She said the student was taking part in a mock trial as part of his class’s studies of Agatha Christie’s 1939 novel And Then There Were None.

“This is the student’s interpretation of the character. He was not instructed to show up in make-up,” Plummer wrote.

“I will try to find her to have a conversation,” Brooks responded. The portion of the email apparently identifying with whom he planned to speak was redacted.

It’s not clear whether the school responded directly to the individual who complained.

NEWS 1130 asked on Tuesday to speak with someone from the Chilliwack School District or GWG about the 2017 handling of the incident. An employee in the superintendent’s office said the district was unlikely to respond and that its initial response in June would suffice.

The Chilliwack School District issued a statement on June 4 outlining its commitment to working to eliminate racism, and “remedy the harms it causes.”

Staff ‘extremely upset’ school seen in ‘negative light’: superintendent

On June 8, 2020, interim superintendent Rohan Arul-pragasam wrote to trustee Heather Maahs, saying he was sure “the teacher … used the opportunity to talk about racial injustice in the deep south, a great learning opportunity for students. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to the yearbook teacher, that one photograph made its way to the yearbook with no caption, just the photograph only.”

He continued: “From Chuck’s perspective when most staff saw the photograph in the yearbook in 2017, they were extremely upset as it portrayed the school in a negative light.”

With files from Lisa Steacy and Jonathan Szekeres