Texas Principal Anthony LiVechhi Faces Uproar After Berating Black Students For Looking Like ‘Dr. Dre’

A high school principal in Texas has apologized after comparing Black students to “Dr. Dre from the ’90s,” and allegedly telling them that they “looked like criminals.”

Principal Anthony LiVechhi was caught on video last Thursday complaining about how Black students were dressed for “90s Throwback Day” at Oak Ridge High School in Conroe, a suburb of Houston, according to the local NBC affiliate.

“It’s embarrassing. It’s frustrating. We have people posing for pictures looking like they’re Dr. Dre from the ’90s. I’m not sure that’s the look we’re going for. It doesn’t make our school look good,” LiVechhi said in the video captured by a student.

The station notes that LiVechhi’s comments were made on the same day that Dr. Dre, a Grammy Award-winning rapper, was named as one of the artists who’ll perform at this year’s Super Bowl halftime show.

Senior Nekia Baker told the station that after making the videotaped comments, LiVechhi went around the school telling people that it was his “worst day being principal because of the way that (students) dressed.”

“(It’s) kind of downplaying on the way my mom and dad dressed when they were in school,” Baker said.

Junior Nia Dixon said she feels LiVechhi’s comments were meant to “bring us down” and “degrade the way we were dressing and degrade our school spirit.”

Another student, Trinidad Robinson, told the station: “I run track. I have some records for the school, and when we were walking by, he said y’all look like criminals. I’m like, how is us dressing and expressing predominantly ’90s and 2000s Black culture equated to being a criminal?”

About 100 students staged a sit-in on Monday to protest LiVechhi’s comments, while a local civil-rights activist and parents met with the principal. After the meeting, LiVechhi apologized.

“I love you all. That’s not how you need to be treated. It won’t happen again,” LiVechhi said.

However, the station reports that students said the situation may not be over.

“According to several students, during Monday’s peaceful protest there were some other students making racist remarks and terroristic threats in person and on social media,” the station reported.

[via Raw Story]