The Duke women’s lacrosse is dealing with ongoing criticism related to a controversial photo posted on GoDuke.com, the University’s official athletics website.
Junior Taylor Virden, a member of the women's lacrosse team, dons blackface for a Halloween costume. The photo was later removed from GoDuke.com.
The photo in question features Duke women’s lacrosse player Taylor Virden, a junior, dressed in blackface for a Halloween costume intended portray Buckwheat, a character from Little Rascals. The party took place at the home of women’s lacrosse head coach Kerstin Kimel.
Duke alum Jordan Woodson tweeted about the photo, which has since been replaced in the article by this one.
“Duke openly showing one of their women’s lax players in blackface,” Woodson tweeted.
Sports broadcaster Bomani Jones later retweeted about the photo, saying “wtf.”
The story has since been posted on Deadspin, BroBible and MSN.
The photo was posted as part of a large rotating gallery submitted by members of the team, said Mike Schoenfeld, Duke vice president for public affairs and government relations. Duke Athletics will now review each individual photo before posting them.
Kimel issued this statement in response to the fallout.
“The Duke Women’s Lacrosse program celebrates Halloween with an annual gathering. This year, some of our costume choices were insensitive and entirely inappropriate. No offense was intended, but that does not matter because we should have realized how these choices would be viewed by those outside of our program. On behalf of our coaching staff and our student-athletes, we apologize to anyone we may have offended and understand while we believed we were making decisions in good fun, we should have been much more sensitive to the implications of our actions.”
Art Chase, head sports information director, declined request for comment from The Chronicle, noting that Virden does not have comment this time.
updated 5:50 p.m. Monday
Slow news day…
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Actually, it makes for a pretty incredible story that GoDuke.com – one of the most visible and oft-viewed means through which Duke communicates to the world – had *no oversight* in terms of publishing content from students. I don’t think Art Chase needs to speak for Ms. Virden, but Art Chase absolutely needs to speak for Sports Information and explain exactly how this was allowed to happen in the first place. Wearing the costume bespeaks an ignorance of the history of blackface, and doubtless the aftermath will be an education in that history. But posting the picture bespeaks a negligence that needs to be actively corrected.
Really?! Grow up people. Get a sense of humor. Chill. out.
Now we apologize for painting ourselves? Brb apologizing to all avatars for painting myself blue at a game.
I think there’s a huge difference between painting oneself blue and blackface—the main difference being that one is blatantly racist, even if the intent is not.
I don’t think it can be blatant of it is noy intentional.
how was it racist???? please tell me because I just dont see it, buckwheat was black, so, you h heyave to dress up as buckwheat to be buckwheat, oh, hey, check out randy moss video on you tube and notice the football fan withhis face painted black. Randy moss didnt complain and pitch a bitch about it. get a life
Then dress up as Buckwheat without using blackface. That’s pretty simple isn’t it?
I mean, if I were to dress up as, say, Annie for halloween I wouldn’t paint myself white would I?
You could paint yourself white… We wouldn’t care less and it wouldn’t get huge media attention like this. I would like to start a television station and call it WET, white entertainment television. Do you think I would be sued? Probably for being racist. Stop with the double standards.
kudos to all the normal people out there
I suppose some people are just ignorant to the history of Al Jolson and “The Jazz Singer”? It actually paved the way for many black performers to enter the mainstream. Sorry but today’s media as in their mean attacking ways. Their instigating trouble where there is none. That is the only story we should be reading about! I mean these girls could have hired some male strippers to the party. Now that is something we could all read about.. lol!
what if……… what if the student dressed as Buckwheat was actually black, would it have been racist then? Give me a break, and get over yourselves. It was a halloween party, idiots!! Yes, I said idiots!! you have nothing bettr to do than bitch about a painted face. Buckwheat was black in case you youngsters don’t remember, nothing racist about it.
ok, so I left out the “e” I guess that means I need hooked on phonics too, now!!!!!
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The fact that some of you are actually coming to the defense of these idiotic students and Duke Athletics is digusting. These young adults are perfectly aware of what they’re doing, and they knew they could play the ignorance card b/c jerks like you would fall for it. White privilege never ceases to amaze me. No matter how prejudice and malicious one shows themself to be, they are always given the benefit of the doubt b/c their white. If a white kid shoots up a school he’s just “in need of help” or “misunderstood”. One of us gets shot by a neighborhood watchmen waling home from 7/11, and ONLY the victim is drug tested with people spending weeks trying to come up with an excuse for the power hungry murderer. It’s a vicious cycle of inead thg is, these girls will not be reprimanded. They will get their degrees and enter the workforce where they will inflict their ignorance upon their colleagues and most likely their employees. We allow idiots such as this to become over-compensated assholes in our society…just like the people who are defending them.
Are you people seriously insane ? A few fun-loving and very accomplished college girls try to have fun on Halloween by accurately portraying the characters in “the Little Rascals” – an amazing program that “put boys, girls, whites and blacks together in a group as equals, something that “broke new ground,” according to film historian Leonard Maltin.[1] Such a thing had never been done before in cinema but has since been repeated after the success of Our Gang.”. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Gang) Buckwheat was dark-skinned and a beloved character in the show and one of the girls was dressed up like him. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE THAT YOU WOULD DISTORT THAT INTO SOMETHING RACIST? The people attacking these girls need to have their common sense examined … Or maybe they should just go talk to these girls and possibly that would help them acquire some ! Do you have nothing better to do than attack young college girls that don’t have a racist thought in their heads?
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