The Newberg Graphic: “A staff member at Mabel Rush Elementary School in Newberg showed up to work in Blackface on Friday, calling herself Rosa Parks and doing so in protest of a vaccine mandate for all school district staff. A fellow staff member at the school who provided initial information on the incident said Lauren Pefferle ‘a special education assistant who the school district said it would not name due to it being a personnel matter’ darkened her face with iodine. The concerned staff member, who requested anonymity for this story, said Pefferle explained her reasoning: that she intended to look like Rosa Parks and have her actions serve as a protest of a vaccine mandate.”

“Pefferle was soon removed from school grounds and placed on administrative leave, according to a district statement. ‘Last Friday, one of our employees reported for work in Blackface,’ district’s statement said. ‘The employee was removed from the location and (human resources) has placed the employee on administrative leave. The administration of Newberg Public Schools condemns all expressions of racism. It is important to remember how Blackface has been used to misrepresent Black communities and do harm. We acknowledge the violence this represents and the trauma it evokes regardless of intention.’ The Blackface incident comes after a Newberg HS student was recently connected to a racist ‘slave trade’ Snapchat group, a protest occurred in solidarity with Newberg’s Black students by a visiting girls soccer team, and the school board’s controversial attempt to ban Black Lives Matter and Pride displays among other perceived ‘political’ symbols.”