06:52 PM PDT on Tuesday, May 2, 2006

By BERNARD CHOI / KING 5 News

SEATTLE – Racially insensitive remarks and a staged assassination of Rosa Parks were just parts of a local college performance that recently angered students. Now, those students say their school is not doing enough to crack down on racism.

At the Cornish College of the Arts, theater students every year put on a performance. It's like a class project to wrap up a course on acting like a clown.

About a month ago, three students were attempting to make fun of white people's ignorance of civil rights history. Instead, they set off a racial controversy.

"It was overwhelming how uncomfortable everybody was in that room. I mean it really crossed the line," said student Jessica Hatlow.

Some Cornish College students are still stunned after watching three of their fellow students satirize the Civil Rights movement.

The 15-minute performance toughed on the life of Martin Luther King.

"I was disgusted and I go here," said Tinu Oyelowo. "One of the students got on the podium and depicted Martin Luther King as a half-wit."

The students then re-enacted the painful 1960 sit-ins in Greensboro, North Carolina.

"One of the clowns was ordering the food and he said: I want fried chicken and chitlins and watermelon. Everybody… there was a big hush," described Melissa Henry.

The presentation ended with the killing of Civil Rights pioneer Rosa Parks.

"When they did Rosa Parks as an incredibly decrepit and then assassinating her…" said Kemeya Harper.

"To stereotype me in such general ways was appalling and I was crying," said Tinu Oyelowo.

The students say the incident highlights deeper issues at the college where the staff is predominantly white and students are not required to take cultural awareness courses.

"It takes more than time to do that, it takes understanding," said Dr. Lois Harris, Provost.

Dr. Harris says it was a regrettable incident and Cornish College is working to improve diversity in its staff and curriculum.

"That we maintain a commitment toward having a welcoming and warm environment for all students, so we don't alienate, we want to learn together as a community," she said.

School officials said the theater faculty and the three students involved have apologized. Dr. Harris said she does not believe the students intended any malicious harm.

The student body continues to grow at Cornish College. It now has about 800 students.