Video of children performing on stage with blackface masks causes outrage

ATLANTA, Georgia -- Video of students at an Atlanta charter school performing on stage with blackface is causing outrage nationwide.

To say some parents are offended is an understatement.

"I thought it was damaging. I thought it was dangerous. Here we are in a climate where our youngsters are not only having to deal with military warfare in school, now they're dealing with psychological warfare as well," Marcus Coleman told WGCL.

It was all part of a Black History Month performance. While holding the masks, students recited the poem "We Wear the Mask" by Paul Laurence Dunbar.

Fourth-grader Arianna Nickerson was there and was unbothered.

"I'm not really offended by it, but I think that it's kind of offending to some people, but it kind of matters on the perspective of people," she said.

The perspective from most, is that it looks, sounds and feels like a minstrel show -- mimicking the black community.

"Theatrical messages are powerful, but when those theatrical messages are woven in the very fabric of the buffoonery and 'coonery' of this country, I feel that imagery is powerful," Coleman said.

WGCL reported that the school sent a letter to parents.

"This was a poor and inappropriate decision and we sincerely apologize and accept responsibility for the hurt, anger, frustration and disappointment that this has caused in the Kindezi community and the community at large," the letter read.