Decades-old CU Boulder yearbook photos show students in blackface and Nazi garb

Several University of Colorado yearbooks from the 1960s reviewed by the Denver Post show photos of students in blackface and wearing Nazi garb.

One photo from 1967 shows a group of students at a fraternity "shipwreck party" with their bodies and faces painted black. In the 1968 yearbook, a photo depicts a smiling male student wearing Nazi symbols, including swastikas, while two other students in the photo sport blackface. In another picture from 1969, a group of students pose in a dormitory, with one grinning while holding up a Nazi flag.

"We condemn the racist and derogatory images published in yearbooks from the 1960s," CU spokeswoman Melanie Parra said in a statement. "It was wrong then, and it's wrong now. The behaviors depicted in the images do not represent the inclusive community we foster today at the University of Colorado Boulder.

"The behavior depicted in the photos is shameful."

This period was marked by allegations of racism on the Boulder campus. In the spring of 1968, CU's black athletes charged the athletic department with discrimination, citing intolerance regarding interracial dating, the absence of black coaches and discrimination in recruiting and housing.

Read more: http://www.timescall.com/top-stories/ci_32455866/decades-old-cu-boulder-yearbook-photos-show-students


This photo of students in blackface appeared on page 265 of the 1967 University of Colorado Boulder yearbook. (University of Colorado Boulder yearbook photo via Denver Public Library / Courtesy photo)