A White Northern California teacher was suspended for wearing blackface while pretending to portray Common. David Carters, a teacher at Milpitas High School,
donned brown paint over his face and sported a bald cape while reenacting Common’s Microsoft AI commercial for Halloween last week.
A student posted video of the incident on Twitter with the caption, “Sooooooooo… one of our WHITE teachers at mhs yesterday decided to paint his face so look like common the rapper yesterday.”
Sooooooooo… one of our WHITE teachers at mhs yesterday decided to paint his face so look like common the rapper yesterday. pic.twitter.com/1WudSddCLZ
— karrington (@karrington_kk) November 1, 2019
Carter was placed on administrative leave while the school district investigates. He claims that he was initially “shocked” by the responses to his racist impersonation. “I was shocked by the reaction, and I’m less shocked now,” he said according to the San Jose Mercury News. “In hindsight, what I did was not right, and I own that. That is my error and my mistake, and I am deeply sorry for what I’ve done to create large divisions.”
“I should not have done the makeup. That was too far,” he admitted. “I got caught up in it.”
In response, Common offered to meet with Carter. “I’d meet with him, to educate him,” he told NBC Bay Area. “He’s a teacher. I’ll break it down to him. It’s a moment we can teach and learn from.”
Common shared similar sentiments in an interview with TMZ where he questioned what made Carter think blackface was a good idea. Watch the video.
https://share.tmz.com/videos/110719-common-4668607-0-hxdbwlp7/