A middle school teacher in Bexley, Ohio is on leave and the school has launched an investigation following a racist presentation shown to students on morning announcements to mark Black History Month, reported WBNS this week.
“According to the school district, the image appeared on a green screen behind the two student anchors,” said the report. “The image of an orangutan eating a watermelon was displayed immediately after a historical fact was read about Black History Month, according to Superintendent Dr. Jason Fine. The video announcements are recorded on the Friday before they are shown. The district did not say if anyone watched the video before it aired.”
Per the school district, the teacher in charge of the morning announcements has been suspended pending an investigation, and families were sent a letter notifying them of the incident.
“The use of racist images in any context is unacceptable and goes against the values of inclusiveness and respect for all individuals that we take seriously at Bexley City Schools and at Bexley Middle School,” said the letter. “This material has no place in a learning environment and can cause significant harm to students and members of the school community. We have taken swift action to investigate how this was able to occur and will be instituting further safeguards on all announcement productions moving forward.”
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This comes after a series of other racist incidents shocked schools up and down the country this month.
Last week, a California middle school was shocked to discover a seventh grader posted an Instagram collage of five classmates and the principal, all of whom are Black or mixed-race, with the caption, “Happy black history month to all of the monkeys.” In another incident at a boarding school in Tennessee, two students posted a Snapchat in which they used racial slurs and threatened to burn Black people on a cross.
