The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary has issued an apology after a picture hit twitter with five of its faculty members, all of whom were white, posing as rappers.
Barry McCarty, a professor of preaching and rhetoric, posted the picture to his Twitter account on Tuesday showing the five faculty members posing with “Notorious S.O.P” written in the graffiti on the wall behind them. “The Notorious School of Preaching faculty’s going away portrait,” McCarty captioned the photo.
An offensive tweet was posted to one of our faculty members'
personal Twitter handles. We have asked that the tweet be removed. https://t.co/LUxWmUUAgu— SW Seminary (@swbts) April 25, 2017
All of the faculty members in the picture were wearing crooked caps, bandannas, or chains, and one man even had a gun to pose with.
The internet was quick to point out the offensive nature of the picture and the tweet, not only because of the racial implications but because of the stereotypes being perpetuated.
The picture and tweets were taken down, and David L. Allen, dean of the School of Preaching, first tried to explain the context: “This is a going-away picture we gave to one of our faculty members today at lunch, Dr. Charette, who is himself an excellent rapper.” He then apologized, writing, “I apologize for a recent image I posted which was offensive. Context is immaterial. @swbts stance on race is clear as is mine.”
— Man who killed 13 in church bus crash was allegedly texting on his phone —
The Christian preaching professors at @swbts who posted this are starting to apologize for posting it.
It should've never been staged. pic.twitter.com/81Y98Np8KL
— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) April 25, 2017
America has a long history of mocking caricatures of black culture. @swbts profs unawareness that this is offensive is very concerning. pic.twitter.com/i3mGWNepGc
— Jordan Rice (@JordanLRice) April 26, 2017
.@swbts If you've been called to train generations for service to the Church but continue to foster racist ideology, please stop. And repent.
— Yolanda Pierce (@YNPierce) April 26, 2017
@DrDavidLAllen @swbts A tone-deaf celebratory picture with racist overtones is still a picture with racist overtones.
— Nick Cannariato (@nickcannariato) April 25, 2017
.@swbts If a diverse body is your goal, you need significant changes in your leadership structure. People that can see the impact of these "jokes".
— Jordan Rice (@JordanLRice) April 26, 2017