Nick and Courtney Politis were getting ready for their daughter's first birthday party a week ago when they got a call from a fellow parent of a child who attends Studio Kids Daycare in Little River.
"She calls me and she's like, 'You won't believe the photos that were sent to me from this classroom,'" Courtney Politis said. "... She told me they painted all the kids' faces black and said, 'Happy Black History Month.' I couldn't believe it. My brain was malfunctioning."
She said the pictures that were shared on the school's messaging app and showed toddlers in blackface.
"I was angry that somehow that, you know, fell through the cracks," Nick Politis said. "And like I said, I wasn't sure how how how this came about and who decided to do this. But it seemed like it was multiple failures on the school's part."
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"When I sent it to the owner, the director, it was like, 'I'm sorry? ... I don't understand. What's racist? We don't use those words,' was her response to me," Courtney Politis said. "And the first response is the real response."
The couple said they met with a daycare's owner on Monday, and have since pulled their children, who are biracial, out of the private Miami daycare.
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Courtney Politis said she had to take care of the kids at home this week.
"But for it to be my child that has to be disappointed, and has to change his routine, it broke my heart," she said. "How are we going to pull our kids mid-semester from school? We have to go to work. So it's really just figuring out what's the escape plan to get out of here, because what else are you teaching our children behind closed doors?"
Courtney Politis said the teacher apologized to her for the blackface incident. The educator, who is Argentinian, told her it was a cultural tradition in her country.
The couple said it's no excuse.
"It's not an accident. You know better," Courtney Politis said.
NBC 6 called and texted the owner of the daycare and the teacher and have not yet heard back.
The racist history of blackface dates back to the 1830's. Minstrel performances typically characterize Black people as lazy, ignorant and thieves.
The couple said they hope the daycare has learned a lesson.
