Homecoming Prank Depicting Slave Master Under Investigation

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — As two students acted out what appears to be an enslaved person and slave master scenario, St. Petersburg High School students gathered at the scene can be heard hooting and chortling on a video posted to Twitter.

The video shows a white student wearing a straw hat pretending to whip another white student in the school's courtyard.

The students in the video, who have not been identified, deny the skit was intended to depict a plantation owner and an enslaved worker.

Whatever the students' intentions, the Pinellas County School District is calling it a “racially insensitive incident" and has launched an investigation.

The incident took place during homecoming week celebration featuring themed days this week. The theme for the day the video was taken was Country vs. Country Club.

Black students like Logan Porter, who posted the video on Twitter, said it was offensive.

"We are going forward not backwards ... I’m absolutely baffled," she said.

Most students observed Country vs. Country Club day by dressing in flannel shirts, jeans and cowboy hat to represent "country" or tennis skirts, sun visors and sweaters tied around their necks to represent "country club."

In a message to parents, St. Petersburg High School Principal Darlene Lebo called the students actions "disappointing" and not reflective of the school. "This type of behavior is not acceptable and will not be tolerated at St. Petersburg High School," she said.

She said the high school strives to be "an inclusive place of learning where students and staff feel safe and respected every day."