A high school club in South Dakota has planned a “Slave/Branding Auction” as a fundraiser next Monday, causing a local dustup. The Faith High School Rodeo Club’s fundraiser, which also includes a pancake dinner and a pie auction, allows buyers to bid on and purchase one day’s labor of any kind from participants—“from waiting tables to hauling hay or moving cattle,” according to a 2011 article. A Black resident of Faith reportedly asked club members to change the name of the event in 2018, but they declined, saying they could not think of a replacement. Local civil rights organizations denounced the event, calling the name insensitive and racist.
A recent advertisement for Faith High School Rodeo Club’s “Slave/Branding Auction,” a fundraising event that includes a pancake supper and a pie auction, has caused backlash on social media and from human rights organizations in South Dakota. https://t.co/X5JeevSRmV
