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08th Oct 2021

Teacher resigns after being accused of saying Black students would be her ‘field slaves’ without US constitution

Charlie Herbert

teacher

The incident took place in an 8th-grade lesson as children learnt about the US Constitution

A teacher at a school in North Carolina has resigned after being accused of making racist remarks towards black students.

The teacher at Winterville Charter Academy in Greenville, North Carolina, apparently told the black children in the class that if it weren’t for the constitution they “would be her slaves. her field slaves.”

This is according to the mother of one of the children in the class.

Speaking of the incident Kanisha Tillman, mother of one of the children who witnessed the event, said: “She [the teacher] had them raise their hand during a constitutional lesson and reminded them that if it wasn’t for the Constitution, they would be her slaves. Her field slaves.”

After receiving calls and reports of the incident local media station WITN-TV launched an investigation, speaking to parents who said their children were singled out by the teacher during the lesson.

The incident took place last month and on September 24, the school’s principal sent a memo out to parents admitting that a “racially insensitive lesson” had taken place at the school but that action had been taken.

The memo read: “On Monday evening, it was brought to the attention of school administration that a racially insensitive lesson regarding the importance of the Constitution of the United States was carried out during an English lesson on Constitution Day.”

It added that two “racially insensitive words” were reportedly used by several children in the classroom “without appropriate redirection along with inappropriate response from the educator.”

The memo explained that the teacher responsible for the class “was supported in turning in her resignation and will not be returning on campus.

“Culturally sensitive training for the teacher that resigned will be provided, along with proactive training measures for our current and future staff members,” the memo said:

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National Heritage Academies, a charter school management company that oversees Winterville Charter Academy, said in a statement the “school leadership team acted immediately upon learning about a racially insensitive lesson and student remarks, and is currently working to address ongoing concerns from parents that racially insensitive student remarks continue.

“While student and staff privacy rights prevent me from sharing specific details, what I can share is that we will not tolerate racism in our school community and will continue taking swift action that addresses these issues,” the statement added.

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