Washington college students face possible discipline for blackface stunt mocking ‘Black Panther’

Students at a Christian university in Washington are under investigation for a racist social media stunt.

Five of the six Walla Walla University students shown in the photos are wearing charcoal face masks, and the Snapchat post is captioned "Wakanda," the fictional homeland of "Black Panther," reported My Columbia Basin.

In the Marvel Comics series and Marvel Studios film, the title character hails from a fictional East African nation called Wakanda whose technology and wealth are hidden to the outside world.

The photo was taken by one of the students seen in the photo using a mirror and posted on social media, and the university is investigating the post as "anti-black and racist."

"Demeaning others is reprehensible, and this social media post is unacceptable behavior," university officials said in a statement. "We at Walla Walla University are thoroughly committed to uncovering the motivations for such behavior and disciplining the involved students accordingly."

It's not clear what disciplinary action the students might face, if any.

About 1,700 students are enrolled at Walla Walla University, which is affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church, where 69 percent of students are white, about 14 percent are Hispanic and just over 3 percent are black.