TELFAIR COUNTY, GA — Some Georgia high school students are in hot water after reportedly posting a photo with white bags over their heads, similar to hoods.
The photo was reportedly taken last week after the Telfair County High School tennis team lost its state championship match to Irwin County High School, a team that included several black players.
It shows at least eight people on what appears to be a school bus wearing the bags that draw comparisons to Ku Klux Klan hoods.
Some didn't see it that way, and others couldn't believe their eyes when they first saw the photo.
"I was like, 'What the world?' And I was trying to find out who was all on the tennis team because I didn't know who was all on the tennis team, so I was trying to find out but it's crazy," said student Sheena Wooten.
Wooten is a 10th grader at the school and says the photo was out of line, but she said she didn't think the students were racist.
"They're not racists, they're really cool people, and they're athletes and they're very smart and they never did nothing to me that was racist," said Wooten.
But some had stronger opinions. One woman who didn't want to go on camera because she says she's a custodian at the school said what those kids did was just wrong.
And others also preferred not to go on camera because they didn't want to get in trouble, but said the photo was racist.
School district superintendent Lenard Harrelson says he plans to discipline the students who were involved in what he calls a "highly-offensive" photo.
Harrelson declined to comment on how many students would be punished or what the punishment would be.
