'Why be racist or homophobic when you can just be quiet?' Middle school apologizes to student who was asked to cover up anti-discrimination shirt after officials branded it 'offensive'

A middle school has apologized after asking a student to cover up a T-shirt that teachers found offensive, but was actually intended to ...

A middle school has apologized after asking a student to cover up a T-shirt that teachers found offensive, but was actually intended to oppose discrimination.

Teachers at Albritton Middle School on Fort Bragg in North Carolina were apparently confused by the message: 'Why be racist, sexist homophobic or transphobic when you could just be quiet?'

On Friday, seventh-grader Emery Smith was asked to cover up the shirt, which she had worn for 'dress down' day. Frank Ocean famously wore a shirt of similar design at the 2017 Panorama Music Festival.

Emery's mother Katie Smith was shocked to get the call from the school that her daughter's favorite shirt was offensive.

'I don't think any of us really imagined adults would take issue with the shirt suggesting that discrimination is not OK,' Smith told WTVD-TV. 

'I told the staff that the shirt represented categories of children who are marginalized. In a time we are trying to combat bullying, I think it's so counterproductive to that,' she continued.

In a statement, the Public Affairs Officer Jade Fulce with the Department of Defense Education Activity said administrators had apologized for the misunderstanding.

'Students are at the heart of everything we do. After further review of our dress code policies, we realized that the shirt did not violate our policies. The school reached out to the parents and apologized that same day,' Fulce said. 

Smith said that the incident could serve as a valuable learning experience for her daughter.

'We are having a lot of discussions, at home, about teacher micro-aggressions in the classroom setting and starting to really think about how that plays a role in bullying culture,' Smith wrote in a Facebook post.

'When she realized that this exposure could lead to helping educate other children and families and maybe even some kind of reform within the educational system, her eyes lit up at that opportunity!'

Smith added: 'And additionally I will be looking into pulling her out of the class of the teacher who is so offended by homosexuality and transsexuals just in case she decides that she identifies that way.'