“Glitch in the simulation again”: Racist dirty snowman controversy explained as netizens weary of backlash

The Coxsackie-Athens Central School District landed in trouble after posting a picture of a snowman made of mud and snow in which they praised the diversity. However, this did not go down well with social media users and they started widely criticizing the school for being racist.

One of the users even said:

"There's a glitch in the simulation again..."

Social media user reaction (Image via snip from Twitter)

In the photo, three students can be seen with a snowman that they made from dirt and snow by combining three snowballs. School officials shared the post on Facebook along with a caption that reads:

“Today’s CE Fourth Grade Playground Fun! This snowman is just as diverse as our students!”

Coxsackie school's post that is drawing flak (Image via snip from Facebook)

As soon as this post came across people, they started reacting to it and said that the school is being racist by doing so. However, after facing major flak on social media, the school authorities apologized for their actions and deleted the post.

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Netizens are saying the school's snowman post was the result of white privilege; see how people are reacting to it

Snowman's post received major backlash on social media and people of color even said that this happened because there is a lack of representation of brown and black people.

Reaction on the controversy (Image via snip from Twitter)

Netizens reaction (Image via snip from Facebook)

What did school authorities say about the major backlash?

After receiving major backlash on social media, an official statement was posted on the district's website where Superintendent Randy Squier said that they have deleted the post because it was interpreted down to race and they wanted to apologize for it because they never intended to be hurtful.

The statement read:

"Today, a post was uploaded to our Facebook page that has since been deleted... The word ‘diverse’ was used to describe how every kid can make a snowman differently and this variety of creativity should be celebrated. When it was commented that this post could be interpreted about race the post was taken down. We want to apologize and reiterate it was never intended to be hurtful."

It further stated that:

"We will use this as an opportunity to review our social media policies and procedures and continue our commitment to providing a learning environment where every person feels that they belong.”

Meanwhile, speaking to The Daily Beast, Squier said that the employee who shared the post didn't make the comment intentionally. He further stated that the district is taking this scenario as a learning opportunity.