San Diego Student Suspended After False Allegations of Blackface Settles with District

The constant refrain is that persons of color are victims of society. But it often seems that people speaking on their behalf do the real victimizing–besmirching others with bogus charges of racism.

Last year, two teenagers expelled from a California Catholic school for supposedly wearing blackface when the covering was really just acne masks were awarded 1 million by a jury.

And now the San Diego student suspended for supposedly wearing blackface to a football game, where he really just donned the eye black that athletes favor, is having his name cleared in a lawsuit settlement with the San Diego Unified School District.

Under the terms of the settlement, which was inked earlier this month, the suspension is expunged from his record and school officials and employees are prohibited from mentioning the suspension in any communications.

The boy, identified in court papers as J.A., was represented in his federal lawsuit against the Muirlands Middle School and the San Diego Unified District by Harmeet Dhillon’s Center for American Liberty.  The Senate Judiciary Committee on March 3 voted to approve the nomination by President Donald Trump of Dhillon to be Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights.

Her associate, Karin Sweigart, told the California Globe that the “false allegations of blackface on J.A.’s permanent school records could have haunted him for decades, affecting both his education and future career opportunities. It’s a relief that the school district has finally corrected this injustice. No student should have to fight to clear their name over baseless accusations. This is why organizations like the Center for American Liberty exist—to ensure fairness and protect fundamental rights.”

Sweigart, who also represented the former students at the Saint Francis High School in Mountain View, added that, “I think the most important principle upheld by the lawsuit and settlement is school administrators should lead with common sense and fairness. As soon as J.A.’s principal saw the photograph of J.A.’s eyeblack that night he should have known the allegation of blackface was baseless. But he punished J.A. anyway. This would have been over before it began if common sense had prevailed. Instead, there was a race to declare an innocent activity as a racist act.”

The lawsuit was filed on January 16, 2024 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California.

The incident at issue was a football game that J.A, then a Muirlands Middle School student, attended at La Jolla High School on  October 13th, 2023.

The lawsuit says that “J.A. spent most of the Game with friends who happen to be racial minorities, including a friend who is Hispanic and another who is Black.”

He did not bring eyeblack with him but noticed that half the people in the stands were wearing it.  “At around 8:30 p.m., one of J.A.’s friends, who happens to be Hispanic, painted Warrior eye black on J.A.’s face. When his friend had finished, J.A. asked a Black security guard at the Game how the [eye black] looked. The security guard said it looked good and complemented J.A. on his design.”

This was all done in good spirits but it was soon concocted as a racist incident by a power hungry school principal determined to stamp out racism where none exists.

“J.A.’s intent in having his friend paint Warrior eye black on his face was to show spirit for the football team along with the many other fans in attendance. He was not familiar with the concept of “blackface”  at the time he put on the Warrior eye black. He had no intent to mimic or mock anyone when he donned the Warrior eye black, nor did he engage in any behavior that could be characterized as mimicking or mocking Black people while wearing it.”

Two days after the Saturday game, Muirlands Middle School principal Jeff Luna summoned J.A. to his office and told him received a complaint that somebody who looked just like him was wearing blackface at the football game.

According to the complaint, J.A. did not even know what blackface is. He told Luna that he was wearing eye black and drew him a picture to illustrate.

Next, the parents of J.A. met with Luna and told him basically the same thing, even bringing a picture of J.A. at the game with eye black. But Luna disregarded the facts in his mad rush to brand J.A. a racist.

“Throughout the meeting, Principal Luna made clear to J.A.’s parents that he had no interest in either providing J.A.’s parents with any evidence that supported his decision or hearing any evidence from J.A.’s parents that might challenge his predetermined outcome,” the lawsuit says.

Luna suspended J.A. for two days and barred him from school athletic events for the rest of the year.  The suspension report on his record said he was suspended for “hate violence.”

This was just Luna’s fabrication, the lawsuit makes  clear.

“Though the Suspension Report accuses J.A. of intentionally causing, attempting to cause, or participating in a threat of violence to deprive a victim of protected rights, Principal Luna never provided any evidence to suggest that J.A. perpetrated a threat or invaded the constitutional or statutory interests of another. Principal Luna never suggested or provided evidence that J.A. targeted anyone at all, let alone targeted someone because of a protected characteristic. And Principal Luna never provided any evidence that J.A.’s intent in wearing Warrior eye black was to mimic or mock Black people.”

The lawsuit claimed that the school violated the First Amendment rights of J.A. because his eye black was protected speech.

“J.A. exercised his First Amendment right of free expression when he donned Warrior eye black to cheer at a high school football game,” the motion reads. “Luna and the [other] defendants violated those rights when they punished J.A. for his off-campus speech which did not cause a substantial disruption at the school and did not threaten to harm the rights of anyone.”

Luna did not reply to a request for comment.

But lawyer Karin Sweigart says the settlement in this case and the Catholic school verdict could prove a cautionary note to  educators inclined to railroad students.

“I never thought that I would have a niche legal practice representing students falsely accused of blackface, but it is disturbingly common in our schools,” she explained. “Last year, we won a million-dollar victory against a school that chose to punish innocent students falsely accused of blackface rather than stand up for reality when other people jumped to conclusions. Administrators who care more about their image than dealing fairly with students wrongly accused shouldn’t be in the profession. But if nothing else, I hope these victories show school administrators that, if they bully innocent children, they will be held accountable.”