Image surfaces of Black preschool students waiting for food while white classmates eat
The father of a Black student attending a Kids ‘R’ Kids preschool shared the photo on Instagram while calling on the corporate office to provide an explanation.
A Kids ‘R’ Kids preschool in Roswell, Georgia is under fire after footage surfaced of their ill-treatment of Black students.
On Wednesday (April 7), a man named Marquis took to Instagram to share an image of his son’s classroom. In the photo, all the white students were seen with plates in front of them. The Black children, however, appeared to be waiting for some food.
“This is truly unbelievable. You better know this won’t be the last time you hear from me on this,” he penned in a caption. “Why does every white kid have their food? Not one Black child has food in front of them! Thank God for cameras in classrooms because there is no way to hide this racism.”
“As Blacks we always strive to send our kids to schools in suburban areas, but I’m telling you first hand that is not always best. This is not a Black or white issue, this is simply wrong. “@kidsrkidscorporate I’ll be waiting [for] feedback fom your corporate office on this.”
David Vinson, the president and chief executive officer of Kids ‘R’ Kids International, Inc., followed up with a statement apologizing to Marquis and the Kids ‘R’ Kids community for the narrative displayed in the picture. He said that the occurrence was a “random and isolated” incident in their inclusive environment.
Later, after further review, he announced that Kids ‘R’ Kids was ending its contract with the preschool where the incident took place.
“The interactions captured on video by one of our families, yesterday, is disturbing and not in accordance with the inclusive culture that we promote at Kids ‘R’ Kids amongst our families, their children or our staff,” Vinson said in another statement. “We apologize to the family, the community and all of those impacted by the situation, and will use this as a learning tool to remind our Kids ‘R’ Kids staff on the importance of diversity and inclusivity.”
The Kids ‘R’ Kids corporate office, he added, is available to help any displaced families find other preschools in their respective areas.