A middle school teacher was caught going on a racist rant against a black parent at an Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, middle school. \ T...
A middle school teacher was caught going on a racist rant against a black parent at an Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, middle school.
The target, a father named Rasheed Noel, filmed the puzzling interaction.
According to WPVI-TV, the incident began after the parent and teacher were involved in a minor car accident on school property.
"He and a teacher were involved in a car accident in the parking lot of Drexel Hill Middle School and that the teacher proceeded to make several racial and other derogatory remarks to him," the Upper Darby School District said in a statement.
What are the details?
The teacher, who remains unnamed at the time of this writing, can be heard in the video telling Noel that he's "probably on welfare."
Noel calmly responded, "Not even a little bit. Six figures a year, ma'am." He pointed out that she's making the comment because he is a young black male.
"That's right," she sneered, "because you're black. ... Always looking to milk the system. And you see me, a white woman, so you think I have money."
Noel quipped, "Not even a little bit. Don't even look like you've got it."
"Go back to your welfare," she fired back.
The teacher continued to berate Noel, and after about a minute of the video, she used the N-word while speaking to him.
Noel shared the incident on Facebook. At the time of this writing, the video has been viewed more than 45,000 times.
He wrote:
I commend the Upper Darby school district for taking quick action on this teacher at Drexel Hill Middle School. They are doing everything in their power to make sure people like this teacher become non existent in any school. Listen close at 1:17 what she calls me (N****). She hits my car and acts like this on school property in front of students and staff. After meeting with the superintendent of Upper Darby school district and his staff, I'm hear [sic] to say they absolutely care about their community.
Upper Darby School District has investigated an incident in which a teacher in one of our middle schools made racially charged remarks to a parent of a student who attends the school. The Principal of Drexel Hill Middle School contacted central office when he was made aware of the exchange. I met with the parent to review and discuss the incident. The parent reported that during morning drop off on Oct. 10, 2019, he and a teacher were involved in a car accident in the parking lot of Drexel Hill Middle School and that the teacher proceeded to make several racial and other derogatory remarks to him. The video of this incident has been posted to Facebook.
We took this report very seriously. As a result of the investigation, the teacher has been placed on administrative leave pending further investigation. We intend to vigorously address this issue.
Upper Darby School District does not condone or tolerate inappropriate conduct or speech associated with hate, racism, discrimination or intolerance of any kind. The deeply troubling comments and actions of this teacher are not indicative of the hundreds of outstanding teachers working in our schools each and every day. We are a District of over 12,500 students in a community of over 82,000 residents from over 60 countries, with over 70 different home languages. We are a community of many cultures and backgrounds, and we value our diversity. It strengthens us. Through the work we are doing around our Deep Equity Initiative, we will continue to challenge assumptions about the potential of the families whose children we serve and continue to increase access, opportunity, inclusion and support for all of our students.
The behavior, language, and treatment of one of our parents are not in keeping with our expectations of our teachers and staff. The comments and actions made by this teacher do not align with our core beliefs of Opportunity, Unity, and Excellence.
We will be working with our District's Deep Equity Team to develop ways to develop ways to reflect on this incident with staff across the District.
Noel told the Philadelphia Inquirer that the teacher got the attention she apparently wanted.
"She wanted the opportunity to express herself. She had the floor, which is why I kept quiet, and why I decided to stay on video," Noel told the outlet. "She wanted the attention, and now she has it."
"I'm very happy my kids attend this school district," he later added. "Since the beginning of them enrolling here, I have had nothing but good things to say about the staff. This one teacher doesn't speak for any of the staff members that I come across."
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