Student's Slave Costume for Spirit Week Alarms School Administrators, Students

MISSOURI CITY, TX — A student at Ridge Point High School was sent home and forced to change after the slave costume he wore for the school-themed “Decades Day” drew some unexpected attention.

Tuesday was Decades Day at Ridge Point High School, an observance that encourages students to show their school spirit with costumes from different historic eras or decades. While most students typically choose 1970s disco-themed outfits, 1960s hippies or even a 1920s flapper, Brian Ibe, a Ridge Point senior went a bit further back in time.

On Tuesday, Ibe showed up in shackles and chains and a white T-shirt shredded on the back and splattered with fake blood.

“I decided to dress in the time when there were slaves, from about the 1600s to the 1800s,” Ibe told KPRC. “They told me to take it off,” Ibe said. “They said I should take it off before it starts problems and makes people uncomfortable.”

School officials became alarmed by Ibe’s costume choice and asked him to either change from his costume or face an in-school suspension.

Ibe chose to go home and change his clothes, he said.

Meanwhile, Fort Bend ISD spokesperson Amanda Bubela issued the following statement on the matter:

"If a student is dressed inappropriately, and/or if their dress is considered a distraction to the learning environment, they will and have been asked to change clothes. In the last couple of days, less than a dozen students have been asked to change or modify their clothing…”

Ibe said that while faculty and students might have found his costume alarming, it is a part of our history and does not need to be covered up.

Image: Adam Jones via Flickr