University of Louisville president apologizes for inappropriate costumes

President James R. Ramsey and his staff dressed in sombreros, sarapes and thick, black moustaches. He apologized for any pain it caused students and the community.

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The University of Louisville is having a rough fall season.

Its venerated basketball program is embroiled in an embarrassing sex scandal, and now its president has apologized for a photo that surfaced, which showed him and his staff dressed in sombreros, sarapes and thick, black moustaches.

The group was criticized for relying on cultural stereotypes for Halloween costumes.

An op-ed in the school newspaper, the Louisville Cardinal, blasted President James R. Ramsey. Olivia Krauth writes:

The president of a school that prides itself in diversity opted to dress himself and his staff as a culture for Halloween. Not just a culture, but a minority that is frequently faced with prejudice. Not just a culture, but a completely wrongfully depicted culture according to people who are actually in that culture.

There’s a word for this. It’s called racism.

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