Teacher placed on leave over racist image
Investigation underway at Bexley Middle School
A teacher at Bexley Middle School is on administrative leave after a racist image was shown during the school’s morning announcements one day last week.
The image of an orangutan eating a watermelon appeared on a green screen background after a historical fact was shared as part of Black History Month last Friday, Feb. 3, Middle School Principal Jason Caudill and Assistant Principal Racquel Armstrong said in a message later that day to parents.
An investigation into how the image was selected and placed in the daily presentation is underway, according to Bexley Superintendent Jason Fine, who said in his own message to parents on Sunday that further action “will be taken following the investigation per Board of Education policies.”
Fine also said in his message that due to privacy requirements, some information must be kept confidential.
“It is my goal that our Black students are welcomed and feel a deep sense of belonging in our community,” Fine said. “The presence of racist images in school undermines our important work and we will do everything in our power to rectify the hurt caused in this situation, rebuild trust with our students, staff and families, and create the caring and nurturing environment our students deserve.
“We know that as our community learned of this incident over this weekend that many more individuals have felt deep offense, hurt, and pain, as well as a sadness that this happened in one of our schools. The use of racist images in any context is unacceptable and goes against the strongly held values of our Board and administration. It can, and has, caused significant harm to students and members of the school community.”
Most of the 17 people who signed up to speak during the public comment portion of Wednesday’s crowded Bexley school board meeting called for the teacher who supervises the middle school’s morning announcements to be fired.
“I’m done with the rhetoric,” Carl
Woodward told board members, noting his 13-year-old daughter saw the racist images. “I’m done with the talk. We as a community want action because your inactions have not worked.”
Black students make up about 5% of Bexley’s student body, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
Watermelons became a racist trope during Reconstruction 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 magazine in 2014.
“Southern whites, threatened by Blacks’ newfound freedom, responded by making the fruit a symbol of black people’s perceived uncleanliness, laziness, childishness, and unwanted public presence,” Black wrote. “This racist trope then exploded in American popular culture, becoming so pervasive that its historical origin became obscure.”
Bexley school board member Joanne Pickrell suggested the board, in conjunction with the administration, students and staff, explore the possibility of developing what she called a set of “clear, defined consequences and student supports when incidents like this happen.”
“The image displayed last week was hurtful and the individuals involved in the incident need to be held accountable for their actions,” Pickrell said. “These individuals, however, should also participate in restorative justice programming to repair the harm they caused by their actions and start to build relationships in both the community and our schools.” mtrombly@dispatch.com @monroetrombly