A white teacher in suburban upstate New York is coming under fire for racially insensitive comments she reportedly made to Black students in front of their peers. The teacher asked the students about their complexions, which was rightfully deemed inappropriate by the students.
Now, the students and their parents are taking both the teacher and the school district to court. According to the lawsuit, school administrators brushed off concerns about the teacher’s comments.
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The teacher's comments are shocking.
According to lawsuit documents obtained by The Independent, Monique-Gale Messina, a white teacher at Eldred Junior Senior High School in Sullivan County, New York, asked two Black students if they were “pure-bred Black” because of their light skin tone.
The woman also apparently asked the students about their hair texture. This conversation allegedly happened in front of other students.
There was no doubt that Messina had done something wrong.
According to the lawsuit, the school began an investigation. It found that the teacher “engaged in an inappropriate and racially discriminatory conversation that utilized discriminatory vocabulary and statements.” This is a direct violation of the state’s Dignity for All Students Act, which has been in effect since 2012, per the New York Education Department.
School officials didn't seem to take the concerns seriously.
When the students, who were in ninth and eleventh grades at the time of the incident in February, brought their concerns to the school administration, Eldred Central School District Superintendent Traci Ferreira told the children and their families “that Messina was not a person of prejudice because, upon information and belief, she ‘ate tacos,’ and… identified as a member of the gay and lesbian community.”
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Messina was never fired.
The teacher wasn’t removed from the school “despite the clear and unequivocal findings” that she had done something wrong. Furthermore, the school failed to take “any steps to protect [D.C. and T.B.] from being subjected to further acts of racial prejudice, discrimination, and unwarranted hate,” the suit claims, per The Independent.
Attorneys for both the families of the students and the school district did not comment on the lawsuit.
It looks like the school isn't upholding its own rules.
The Independent reported on the Eldred School District Code of Conduct’s stance on racism. “Racism, discrimination, and marginalization of any people or groups of people, whether intentional or not, have no place in our schools, our district or our community. Such actions damage not only those individuals and groups at which they are directed, but also our community as a whole,” the code states.
