florida teacher resigns after iconic Black leaders' images removed from classroom as 'age inappropriate'

[butters]

board-certified behavior analyst for the school district removes Black icon images with the excuse that they were age inappropriate.

James told the paper that he chose the theme for the bulletin board because the majority of the students in his class are Black and he wanted to showcase leaders that his students could look up to and see themselves in.

James said the images removed from the board included Martin Luther King Jr., Harriet Tubman, Colin Powell and George Washington Carver — and that an image of former President Barack Obama on his desk was also removed.

"It really floored me," James told the paper. "I've been teaching special education for 15 years, and it just really floored me when she did that."

After sending the letter to the governor Monday night, James, 61, officially resigned from his post as an exceptional student education (ESE) teacher, teaching students ranging from kindergarten to fifth-grade, Tuesday. It was going to be his first year teaching in Florida, the paper said.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/f...pc=U531&cvid=ab97708db5524cc99209e15ed407b05b

 

[RobDownSouth]

board-certified behavior analyst for the school district removes Black icon images with the excuse that they were age inappropriate.


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/f...pc=U531&cvid=ab97708db5524cc99209e15ed407b05b

the money quote:

James described the person who took down his images as board-certified behavior analyst for the school district.

 

[Rightguide]

K-1 to 5 is probably too young to start a race-based Democrat political indoctrination. Teach them to read, write, and add 2+2 first.

 

[Wrong Element]

My guess is that it was the inclusion of Obama, who is both still alive and a hate object for the people currently running the state of Florida, that prompted this bit of totally-not-cancel-culture.

 

[butters]

the money quote:

exactly... shades of Hogwarts

 

[ToPleaseHim]

My guess is that it was the inclusion of Obama, who is both still alive and a hate object for the people currently running the state of Florida, that prompted this bit of totally-not-cancel-culture.

I didn’t see any indication that the teacher intended to only include historical or deceased black leaders. Including Obama makes perfect sense. But yes, Floridians seem unhinged with their hatred of Obama.

Having taught in an urban school and rural school (in a swing state), any teacher would have been welcome to have this display up in their classrooms. I wonder if the Florida school allows for displays like this in February, or if they are not even willing to do the lip service of Black History Month. They probably spend February crying out for a White History Month.

 

[Chobham]

K-1 to 5 is probably too young to start a race-based Democrat political indoctrination. Teach them to read, write, and add 2+2 first.

^^^^This!!!!

None of the classrooms I attended all the way up to and including graduation from High School were festooned with the images of ANYONE or ANYTHING.

 

[Philthy_Phil]

Klanguide and baby killer are happy because they hate black people.

 

[Fuzzy1975]

Klanguide and baby killer are happy because they hate black people.

I'm pretty sure they can thank Icant for the removal, he pretty much admitted as much in the thread "there is no shortage of teachers...they just don't want to be teachers anymore"

 

[ll74]

Why is this vanity thread still going?

 

[Comshaw]

It appears the school overreacted to this situation. I do not believe it was about age appropriate things being displayed. Although it was not explicitly stated in the article it appears that all the pictures of leaders he posted on the board were black. I believe this was an over reaction by the school to Florida's dumb ass teaching of "critical race" theory.

That said I think the teacher was in the wrong too. Why? Let me explain.

For most of my adult life this country has been attempting to end segregation, the stupid concept of "separate but equal". Another word for segregation is exclusion.

The article states a majority of his students were black. That means he had students of other ethnicities. By posting only black leaders, rather than a board of famous leaders of ALL ethnicities, he in essence did exactly what has been done to blacks (and others for that matter) for years, included only those he wanted to extol and excluded anyone else.

The anti-segregation effort isn't to hold one race above the other, extol those of one race over another, but to be inclusive. By posting only black leaders he was doing the same disservice to those students in his class who weren't black as has been done in the past to black students.

Yeah, he was wrong.


Comshaw

 

[butters]

i think i understand where you're coming from, Comshaw, and i, too, would personally prefer to see any promotion of people-to-look-up-to include as much diversity as possible.

having said that, all kids are bombarded daily, even if it's at a peripheral level, with images of white iconic figures... on the news, pictures in school halls, and so much more, people their parents and grandparents talk about as heads of state/presidents/people in power; that's not unusual, given the historically caucasion prevalence of the USA population. Historically, black iconic figures were far and few between and hardly encouraged in educational settings. This isn't a case of a black sportsman or entertainer; these are people who have attained serious heights of public interest by doing a great service for Americans. There were only 5-7 images with brief notes about them on a board along with the Pledge of Allegiance.

As an ESE teacher, James was employed to teach students ranging in age from kindergarteners to fifth-graders. The bulletin board was on the wall directly behind his desk at the front of the class.

It contained about five to seven images of Black historical figures, as well as the Pledge of Allegiance. The individual pictures were about the size of a piece of paper, with short written passages on them explaining the achievements of each person.

https://www.pnj.com/story/news/loca...erican-leaders-removed-his-class/10276112002/

plenty of people say black children are 'wild/unruly/feckless/rude... stupid, ignorant people. What possible harm can there be in this bulletin board highlighting some of these iconic black figures that children may never have heard of yet (given their age) as a small attempt at balancing the prevalence of white iconic historical figures? Such positive role-models are surely only inclusive? It may have been a long time ago when I first heard of some of these people, but i certainly didn't feel like the glut of white iconic figures were in any way lessened or my own whiteness threatened.

as i began with, my personal preferences would be to see a board...a bigger board... that included iconic images of people of all shades, creeds and ethnicities who have done great things for America

 

[Comshaw]

i think i understand where you're coming from, Comshaw, and i, too, would personally prefer to see any promotion of people-to-look-up-to include as much diversity as possible.

having said that, all kids are bombarded daily, even if it's at a peripheral level, with images of white iconic figures... on the news, pictures in school halls, and so much more, people their parents and grandparents talk about as heads of state/presidents/people in power; that's not unusual, given the historically caucasion prevalence of the USA population. Historically, black iconic figures were far and few between and hardly encouraged in educational settings. This isn't a case of a black sportsman or entertainer; these are people who have attained serious heights of public interest by doing a great service for Americans. There were only 5-7 images with brief notes about them on a board along with the Pledge of Allegiance.

https://www.pnj.com/story/news/loca...erican-leaders-removed-his-class/10276112002/

plenty of people say black children are 'wild/unruly/feckless/rude... stupid, ignorant people. What possible harm can there be in this bulletin board highlighting some of these iconic black figures that children may never have heard of yet (given their age) as a small attempt at balancing the prevalence of white iconic historical figures? Such positive role-models are surely only inclusive? It may have been a long time ago when I first heard of some of these people, but i certainly didn't feel like the glut of white iconic figures were in any way lessened or my own whiteness threatened.

as i began with, my personal preferences would be to see a board...a bigger board... that included iconic images of people of all shades, creeds and ethnicities who have done great things for America

Firstly: Two wrongs don't make a right, ever. Defending using only black leaders on a board when you have other ethnicities in class, is using whataboutism to justify doing EXACTLY what was being done by the other side. Desegregation, learning our country's REAL history isn't about extolling how many black leaders there have been, or how much they contributed to this country, to the exclusion of all others. It is about treating those leaders in the same manner we treat white ones, with honor and dignity, teaching our kids those leaders place in our history.

Yes, kids (not just black kids) have been bombarded with ONLY those images of white leaders. After a while those kids begin to unconsciously think that ONLY white leaders are great. So what happens when you do the same in opposite? You get the same result and that isn't what we need. And it isn't just the black kids that need to learn this, ALL kids in the U.S. do.

Comshaw

 

[YDB95]

I learned about Harriet Tubman and George Washington Carver in second grade and, remarkably, 1) I was also able to learn the three R's, and 2) I didn't take to the streets with my issues at age 8. Hmm.

 

[phrodeau]

A behavior analyst? Why is such a high-faluting type deciding what happens in the schools? Shouldn’t that money be spent on educating kids?

 

[Pad_Foot]

What was on other bulletin boards?
Was this the only display that was going on that bulletin board for the entire year?
Was his personal property returned to him??
Thank God I only teach math! Only white Christian men created ALL math, so I am safe! Algebra? Who needs that Islamic propaganda!!

 

[Rightguide]

I learned about Harriet Tubman and George Washington Carver in second grade and, remarkably, 1) I was also able to learn the three R's, and 2) I didn't take to the streets with my issues at age 8. Hmm.

 

[YDB95]

That is what you suggested would happen: "K-1 to 5 is probably too young to start a race-based Democrat political indoctrination. Teach them to read, write, and add 2+2 first."

 

[HisArpy]

^^^^This!!!!

None of the classrooms I attended all the way up to and including graduation from High School were festooned with the images of ANYONE or ANYTHING.

In my classrooms, the only images ever displayed on the walls were solidly in the genre of "refrigerator art."

You know, that style of "art" that mom's put on the front of the refrigerator.