Administrators of two suburban Chicago high schools stopped the distribution of yearbooks after students were alleged to have included anti-Semitic, Nazi and white supremacist messages.
At Highland Park High School, one graduating senior’s quote was, “If you tell a big enough lie, and you tell it often enough, it will be believed.” While the student cited the source as anonymous, the quote is typically attributed to Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s minister of propaganda. Another quote alleged to be anti-Semitic in nature was not made public.
In Oak Park and River Forest High School, yearbook distribution was stopped because of 18 photos that featured students making hand gestures associated with the white supremacy movement.
Discussing the matter in a Chicago Tribune opinion piece, Randy Blaser wrote that “Passing off inside jokes in the yearbook is a long tradition among high school seniors just trying to be funny. It might be dumb, but not meant to signal a secret hatred or racist attacks.”
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