Family of Black 5-Year-Old Says Arkansas Teacher Made Him Clean Out Clogged Toilet With His Hands

Itโ€™s deeply despairing to be continually reminded of how inhumanely Black children are likely to be treated in this country. Suggested Reading Trigger Warning…All of the Shocking Testimony From Diddy’s Federal Trial 15 AI Videos of Black Folks That Look So Real You Were Likely Fooled Why Wendy Williams is Clapping Back at a Lawsuit…

Itโ€™s deeply despairing to be continually reminded of how inhumanely Black children are likely to be treated in this country.

Video will return here when scrolled back into view
AI Is the New Civil Rights Frontier: Loren Douglass on Wealth, Politics & Power
AI Is the New Civil Rights Frontier: Loren Douglass on Wealth, Politics & Power

On the heels of the news that a 13-year-old middle schooler in Plano, Texas, underwent racist bullyingโ€”including allegedly being forced to drink urine by his classmatesโ€”comes an Arkansas familyโ€™s complaint that a kindergarten teacher made their child dig through a toilet clogged with feces.

Ashley Murry of Little Rock, Arkansas, shared the disturbing allegations with KARK News on Tuesday, saying her 5-year-old son was made to put his bare hands in a dirty toilet by his teacher at Crystal Hill Elementary School after it was clogged up.

โ€œItโ€™s degrading for a child so I donโ€™t feel like any child should have to go through this,โ€ said Murry.

According to a post made by the childโ€™s grandmother on Facebook, the teacher allegedly made the boy put his hand in the toilet โ€œand clean out his feces and tissueโ€ because he had clogged it.

Anyone who could do that to a child, not to mention any teacher who could do that to a child in their classroom, is a person with a deep streak of cruelty and sadism in my opinion. Both those traits are historically related to racism, and the childโ€™s grandmother raised the issue of his race in her response to the egregious incident.

โ€œThis child is 5 years old in kindergarten,โ€ Tami Murry posted. โ€œHe is a young Black male and this was done to degrade him, belittle him, and it will cause him to have anxiety, he keeps telling everyone what happened.โ€

The Murrys are now calling for the teacherโ€™s termination. Speaking of calling, the childโ€™s mother said the teacher talked to her on the phone about the incident.

โ€œShe said she didnโ€™t have an explanation, she just knew she was wrong. But she stated to the principal that she was trying to teach how not to stop up the toilet,โ€ said Murry.

She didnโ€™t have an explanation. Luckily, I have a fewโ€”see the earlier mentions of cruelty, sadism and racism.

The Pulaski County Special School District told The Root in a statement that the teacher is on administrative leave pending an investigation of the incident. They would not disclose the name of the teacher, who uncorroborated reports online have identified as a white woman, citing district policy for โ€œdisciplinary personnel matters.โ€

โ€œEmployees across the district work hard every day to create an environment where students feel safe and protected,โ€ the statement from the school district said.

It sure doesnโ€™t sound like thatโ€™s the case.

Weโ€™ll continue to follow this story, and we have reached out to the family to see if they plan to take any further steps in demanding accountability for the horrendous treatment of the young child.

Straight From The Root

Sign up for our free daily newsletter.