A teacher in Iowa who was photographed in blackface at a Halloween party claims she never heard of the offensive practice or its controversial history – and claims she never meant to offend anyone.
Megan Luloff, a first-grade teacher at Walcott Elementary, was photographed on Oct. 19 at a party at the Walcott American Legion as part of a group of people dressed as characters from the 2004 movie “Napoleon Dynamite.”
Luloff, who is white, dressed as Lafawnduh, Kip Dynamite’s wife. The photo of Luloff led district officials to launch an investigation after they were made aware of it on Oct. 22, district spokeswoman Dawn Saul confirmed to The Post.
An attorney for Luloff released a statement Wednesday, saying the disgraced teacher was “completely unaware” of what blackface represented in American culture.
“At no point during her preparation for the party, or her participation at the event, did Megan ever intend to mock the character’s ethnicity or take any action intended to be offensive to anyone,” the statement read. “At this point in time Megan had never heard the term ‘Blackface’ nor did she know the history of the term. If she had that knowledge she never would have participated in such a way that she deeply regrets her actions.”
In addition, the attorney wrote, Luloff never would have knowingly mocked people of a different race because her child is an albino.
Luloff, according to the statement, is no stranger to how “sensitive feelings about appearance can be” as the mother of a child of albinism.
“She knows how hurtful and damaging it can be when you think someone is mocking your appearance,” the statement continued. “Throughout history, people affected by albinism have been humiliated, mocked, sent away from their families, worst of all beaten and thought of ‘witchcraft.’”
The statement continued: “Unfortunately, this is a personal experience and knowledge that she did not have at the time with regard to Blackface.”
The statement from the Cartee Law Firm in Davenport also claims that the Quad City Times newspaper published the photo of Luloff to either “promote an already divisive country (which it did) or to cause death threats to Megan and her family (which it has).”
“It is equally apparent, that this picture has now made thousands of citizens aware of what Blackface is historically and how hurtful it is to all African-Americans,” the statement continued. “For this awareness, Megan is thankful.”
Luloff declined to comment when reached by the Quad City Times and did not return a message seeking comment last week from The Post.
“This was the first time Megan had ever been presented with the notion that she had done anything opprobrious,” the statement continued in reference to the media inquiries. “At that time, she declined comment on the picture … Megan, along with many of her friends and family, were completely unaware of what Blackface was historically or that such a term even existed.”
After learning about the term, however, Luloff “immediately understood the anger and outrage” behind the photo, including calls for her firing by local NAACP officials. She then took part in the district’s ongoing investigation into the photo, her attorneys said.
Luloff will be “eternally sorry for her lapse in judgment,” her attorney said.
Luloff remained an employee of the Davenport Community School District as of Wednesday, a spokeswoman confirmed to The Post.