High school DEI office accuses students of 'white supremacy' over senior gift of Thor mural in Washington State

Student council members at a Washington state high school were accused of promoting white supremacy after proposing a mural of the school's unofficial mascot, the hammer-wielding Norse god Thor, be painted as their senior gift. 

The school district's diversity, equity, and inclusion office raised concerns that the painting represents white supremacy and would need to be accompanied by women and people of color to meet the Evergreen Public School district's racial and gender equity standards, KTTH reports. Klarissa Hightower is the Director of Equity and Inclusion at Evergreen Public Schools.

Student councilors at Mountain View High School in Vancouver proposed the artwork because their school's mascot is The Thunders, and the name "Thor" translates to "thunder." There is already a statue of Thor at the school's main entrance, which added further confusion among the student body government.

Members of the council were summoned to appear before district staff, including the equity advancement specialist. "They had an issue with the image not being racially and gender inclusive, as well as upholding an image of pure colonization, white power, white supremacy, and even going as far as to say that it was alluding to racist and anti-black imagery in the south," student council member Tara told KTTH. Tara said it was a "very uncomfortable position for a bunch of high school students to be put in."




Klarissa Hightower, Director of Equity and Inclusion Office at Evergreen Public Schools. Courtesy: Facebook

Council member Ava added that they were told that "without context, our image could be taken the wrong way," suggesting that it could be interpreted as a promotion of white supremacy. She said that councilors were told to be "mindful that the image, despite it not being problematic, is something that could grow to be controversial."

Student councilors used AI to create a timeless image of the deity on a mountain, brandishing his hammer amidst lightning bolts, per the Daily Mail. The school district then suggested removing the Thor god from the painting and keeping only the hammer and the mountain.

"Realistically, as a student, if I'm walking down the hallway, and I see this image up on the wall, that's not going to be the first thing that comes to my mind," Tara added. "We were just essentially told that we will maybe understand their perspective when we're in our 40s and have more life experiences like they do."

The school district then suggested that if they wanted to keep Thor in the painting they would need to add people of color and women to the mural, per the Daily Mail.

"It was very obvious that if we put something like that up, it would be obvious to the entire student body and anyone that knows anything about Mountain View that it was just to fulfill a diversity quota," she added.