Arizona DEI advocates have falsely accused a Black DJ, Kim Koko Hunter, of wearing Blackface to a ’70s-themed party.
According to news reports, Stuart Rhoden and Jill Lassen of Scottsdale saw a photo of Hunter alongside three white men at the charity event and assumed he was in Blackface. They then emailed the Scottsdale Unified School District’s Hopi PTA, who held the throwback party on Apr. 9, calling them racist.
Rhoden and Lassen, who have been partaking in diversity work in the district, quickly learned that Hunter was actually a Black man after the PTA responded to their allegations.
“The DJ that the Hopi PTA hire[d] was, in fact, a Black man. It is insulting that you feel myself or PTA condone racist behavior or encourage it by posting on social media,” Hopi PTA president Megan Livengood wrote in her response to Lassen’s letter.
Lassen, a co-chair for the Scottsdale Parent Council (SPC) DEI Committee, then apologized for her inaccurate claims.
“You are right. We should’ve reached out and inquired before making such accusations. I cannot fathom the hurt, anger, and frustration you felt after you and others volunteered countless hours on your event. Again I truly apologize.”
However, Rhoden, a member of the Scottsdale Human Relations Commission and Scottsdale Unified’s Equity and Inclusion Committee, refused to back down. He wrote a Facebook post alluding to the idea that Hunter may have darkened his skin before the school’s event.
“Let me be clear, a Black man, apparently in Blackface is an entirely different discussion than a white person,” he said in the now-deleted post. “However, I did not state that the person was White. It was assumed that was my intent, and perhaps it was, but nonetheless, looking on his FB page (photos below), it seems at the very least he is in darker make-up–if not, “Blackface,” or I am completely mistaken, and it’s the lighting of the patio?”
Hunter later sat down with Fox5 on Apr. 20 to talk about the bizarre misunderstanding.
“The event went very well. Two days later, I received a phone call…and I was like, ‘This has to be a joke.’ There’s no way…And then he told me about the second part about when [Stuart Rhoden] said a Black person being in Blackface is problematic as well. And, I’m shocked at this point.”
