Commentary

J.A. v. Luna

J.A. v. Luna

School officials shouldn’t sacrifice their students’ futures on the altar of cancel culture.

But that’s what San Diego Unified School District officials did to middle school student J.A. when they accused him of a hate crime, suspended him, and barred him from all future sporting events.

The hate crime in question? Supporting the local football team by putting eye black on part of his face.

J.A. loves watching sports and likes to go to local sports games. In October, J.A. attended a high school football game with a group of friends. As part of the fun, he painted athletic eye black under his eyes and on his cheeks—just like his favorite athletes do. J.A. wasn’t alone; several other students put eye black in various designs on their faces. Sports fans know this is perfectly normal and common at football games.

However, for San Diego school officials, there seems to be an arbitrary line between when eye black is a demonstration of school spirit and when it’s a demonstration of aggressive racism—and only they know which is which.

According to school officials, the high school received complaints that someone wore blackface to the football game and that a group of students were yelling racist comments during the game. School officials immediately jumped to conclusions and deemed J.A. guilty of “hate violence.”

J.A.’s parents gathered evidence to prove their son’s innocence, but school officials ignored it, instead insisting it was blackface. For these officials, eye black on the field is permissible, but the exact same thing off the field is an intentional racist act of hate violence.

No reasonable person would believe that a middle school kid wearing athletic eye black intended to intimidate anyone or send a racist message. But that’s just it—those who worship cancel culture don’t think reasonably. There is no place for logic, evidence, or listening in the religion of cancellation.

It’s clear that school officials simply wanted someone to blame for an alleged incident so they could appear to be addressing racism. J.A. fit the bill.

J.A. now has a suspension for a hate crime on his permanent school record. This suspension could impact his ability to gain acceptance to future high schools, colleges, and certain occupations. J.A.’s future is on the line.

That’s why J.A. and his parents are fighting back.

J.A. is suing to remove this false and baseless allegation of racist hate violence from his school records so that he can continue his education without the stain of an accusation of racist behavior.

In America, we stand proudly on the idea that the accused are innocent until proven guilty. We can’t let cancel culture trample on such a fundamental principle.

Join us as we fight back against cancel culture and stand for freedom.

J.A. v. Luna