Ohio student held racist promposal sign. Now he’s banned from the prom

(CNN) — A student at an Ohio high school is apologizing for a racist promposal sign that got him banned from prom.

Promposals are supposed to be fun. They are not supposed to be racist.

“If I was black I’d be picking cotton but I’m white so I’m picking u for prom,” read a Clear Fork High School student’s sign.

CNN affiliate WJW, who obtained a photo of the sign, is not naming the student; he has since received a number of death threats.

It’s unclear if the sign got him the prom date, but the school superintendent says he’s not going to prom.

This is not the first time a sign like this has been used in a promposal. In April 2018, a Florida high school senior held a sign with the same phrase on it.

“What I thought was, how disappointing — this is in 2019 — we are still dealing with this stuff, with racial slurs,” Clear Fork Valley Local Schools Superintendent Janice Wyckoff told CNN.

She said this is a teachable moment; school administrators have spoken with the student and he has apologized.

Although the student’s family has declined to make a statement, the superintendent said the student apologized on their social media.

“I’m sorry for upsetting anyone, I didn’t mean it like that. I’m really sorry, I will say sorry to anyone,” he wrote, according to Wyckoff. “I didn’t mean to hurt you or anything like that, it was just for a laugh. I’m sorry, I really am. I’ll say it to your face or anything really.”

Wyckoff said she’ll use this as an opportunity to educate her students about race in America.