Teacher quits after racist image in announcements

The teacher who super- vised the announcements at Bexley Middle School near Columbus resigned Friday — one week after a racist image was shown during the school’s morning announcements.

His resignation is effec- tive immediately, Bexley City

Schools Superintendent Jason Fine said in a letter to district families Friday night.

“We know this cannot be treated as any sort of end

ing or closure and we are steadfast in our commitment to our continued efforts to eradicate racism in Bexley

Schools,” Fine said.

The image of an orangutan eating a watermelon appeared on a green screen background after a historical fact was shared Feb. 3 as part of Black History Month.

Watermelons became a racist trope during Reconstruc- tion following the Civil War. Newly freed Black Americans grew, ate and sold watermelons and in doing so made the fruit a symbol of their freedom, William R. Black wrote for The Atlantic mag- azine in 2014.

Bexley’s Board of Educa-

tion will consider the teach- er’s resignation at a special meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday. There will be no public comment during the meeting, which is public.

The teacher, who was not named, was originally put on administrative leave, and an investigation is underway into how the image was selected and placed in the daily presentation is underway.

Most of the 17 people who signed up to speak during the public comment part of Wednesday’s crowded Bexley school board meeting called for the teacher who supervises morning announcements to be fired.

Black students make up about 5% of Bexley’s student body, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.