Colleyville school apologizes for offensive Trump-themed banner

The principal and students at Colleyville Heritage High School apologized Monday for a Donald Trump-themed pep rally banner Friday that offended students at the opposing school, Trinity High School in Euless.

The banner depicted a wall and read “paid for, by Trinity,” in an apparent reference to Trump’s repeated claims that Mexico will pay for the wall the presidential candidate wants to build on the border. The Dallas Morning News reported that some people believed the banner was a derogatory comment on Trinity, which has been called the most diverse high school in Texas.

“On behalf of everyone here, I’m sorry,” said Lance Groppel, Colleyville Heritage’s principal, in a statement released Monday. “We made a mistake and we have to learn from it going forward.”

Colleyville Heritage students also apologized in a letter addressed to Trinity students, saying they “did not mean to offend anyone” but they “acknowledge that what we did was wrong.”

“The actions of last week do not demonstrate who we are,” the letter says. “We are not ignorant of the dialogue taking place across the nation and that is not how we want our school to be viewed.”

Colleyville Heritage’s pep rally theme, “Make Colleyville Great Again,” had been approved by the school, but signs and banners are not reviewed, according to the Dallas Morning News and a news release from school district spokesman Rick Hadley.

Trinity defeated Colleyville Heritage, 35-21.

Before the apologies were given on Monday, Colleyville City Councilman Bobby Lindamood Jr. got involved and “vented” on Facebook, saying that it was actually the Trinity students, not Colleyville, who had made “bigoted racist comments” in the past and last week “hammered out loud ... about beating the ‘Trump’ ‘rich’ ‘white’ kids, so in retrospect the CHHS kids made fun of the derogatory comments and acted like they were on the Trump train.”

He then said that Colleyville Heritage is “full of colored people” and he “witnessed Mexican flags — very trashy signs — and more personal foul penalties on a Friday night football game then I have ever seen” at the game, sarcastically adding that the “ ‘rich white kids’ invoked it.”

Lindamood has since deleted the post.

Monday morning, Lindamood posted another statement, this time saying he’s “the furtherest person from being a racist” and that he has “bi-racial cousins,” a friend with “a bi-racial son,” “a black friend” and a “Red friend.”

“And now being called a racist has me pulled in two ways,” Lindamood wrote. “One is the fighting mad side, and the other of sorrow because it hurts.”

He then apologized to anyone he may have offended “besides politics,” he said.

This story was originally published September 12, 2016 at 7:55 PM with the headline "Colleyville school apologizes for offensive Trump-themed banner."