Texas middle school teacher placed on leave after saying his race ‘is the superior one’
Record producer Southside posted a clip of the incident, vowing to defend his son and "the other black and Spanish kings and queens in this video."
An unnamed Texas middle school teacher in a suburb of Austin is on administrative leave after being captured on video asserting that his race is the “superior one.”
According to KVUE News, officials put the unidentified educator at Bohls Middle School in Pflugerville, Texas, on leave after a video of his exchange with Black students went viral on social media.
In the clip, the teacher converses with a few students inside a classroom. It’s unclear how the discussion started, but viewers could hear the instructor saying, “Deep down in my heart, I’m ethnocentric, which means I think my race is the superior one.”
Joshua Howard Luellen, better known as the record producer Southside, posted a video of the incident involving his son to his Instagram page. He explained in the caption that he’s teaching his child to always stand up for what he believes in.
“[My son] called me the other day and said dad I have a c im trying to get my grade up but my teacher is a racists,” Southside shared in his caption.
Luellen continued, saying that before watching the video, he assumed his son was calling the teacher racist due to his grade.
“I don’t understand how we’re still in a world where I kno I am probably more intelligent I have accomplished way more in life than this guy,” he wrote, adding “legally my son Wants a education and he is being denied that this s–t is sad.”
Southside said he was furious and speechless, noting he would defend his child and “the other black and Spanish kings and queens in this video.”
Dr. Shante Lyons, a Bohls parent, described the situation as disheartening and said it’s most upsetting that children went through it in real time, KVUE reported.
Brian Hennington, another parent, stated that instances like the one at hand should never happen, but it’s even more inappropriate in an educational environment.
“There are other personal experiences we’ve had as people of color that we had individually, but to see this in the classroom setting is just not acceptable,” said Hennington, according to KVUE.
In a statement, Pflugerville Independent School District Superintendent Dr. Douglas Killian apologized for “any undue stress or concern this has caused” and claimed that the teacher’s “inappropriate conversation” did not reflect the district’s core values.
“Pflugerville ISD and Bohls MS work together to create an inclusive and welcoming environment for our students,” said Killian, according to KVUE. “The advisory activity was inappropriate, inaccurate and unacceptable.”
Killian said PfISD would not tolerate such interactions. He claimed that Bohl staff members had checked in with the students, and administrators and counselors were accessible if they wanted to discuss the issue further.
“We always do our best to ensure the safety of all students; we encourage them to be self-advocates and let an adult know when something is wrong, as they did in this situation; this could be to a parent, a teacher, or a counselor,” Killian said, KVUE reported. “If you see something, say something,”
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