It’s about time we have a serious conversation about how a lot of white teachers have no business whatsoever teaching Black students.
Earlier this Black History Month, The Root reported that a teacher in Florida—who must have gotten his doctorate in unmitigated caucasity long before he achieved the credentials that put him in charge of a classroom—is under investigation after he told his class that slave masters never whipped their enslaved and that the n-word isn’t really racist.
On Thursday, we covered a Black Oklahoma middle school student who said his teacher flipped out on him over his “Black King” T-shirt and started ranting about how America needs a White History Month.
Well now, we have a Georgia high school teacher who is under investigation after she told her class via Zoom that Breonna Taylor and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, were responsible for the 26-year-old’s death at the hands of Lousiville, Ky., police officers who botched a search warrant that should never have been issued.
According to International Business Times, the educator for white supremacy in question is Susan McCoy, a forensics science teacher at Pebblebrook High School in Mableton, Ga. A recording of the Zoom class session shows that McCoy didn’t even bother learning Taylor’s name but because whitesplaining is America’s favorite pastime outside of Black oppression, she thought her remedial-ass knowledge of Taylor’s case was enough to lecture her class on what happened on March 13 of last year.
“I’m sorry she was killed but if you hang out with people with guns that shoot at cops you’re likely to get caught in the crossfire,” McCoy can be heard saying in reference to who she later identified as, “what’s her name? Breonna something–the one that was killed in the gunfire from the cops.”
Already it’s clear that McCoy has learned as much about “Breonna something’s” case as white people learn about Black culture before they decide to steal it. But her ignorance becomes more evident the longer her privilege prevents her from shutting the entire fuck up.
“She was hanging out with the guy who was wanted on charges,” she continued. “They knocked and he fired at them and they fired back. You know if you hang out with people who are criminals, and they shoot at a cop, you’re likely to get caught in the crossfire. It does not matter what color your skin is, you’re likely to get caught in the crossfire. I’m sorry she died—it’s sad but she put herself in that position by hanging out with somebody she shouldn’t have been with.”
Some of her students—including at least one Black student whose frustration can be felt through the camera—tried very politely to explain to McCoy that she didn’t know what the fuck she was talking about. They tried to explain that if Walker fired at the police first, it was because he didn’t know they were cops because he didn’t hear them announce themselves before kicking in the door—a thing Walker has explained to law enforcement and media ad nauseam and it’s likely the reason charges against him were dropped. They also tried to explain that Taylor’s ex-boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover, was actually the suspect police were after and he was already in custody when the botched search warrant was executed (along with Breonna).
But since caucasity is as caucasity does, McCoy just basically doubled down on all of her white nonsense and kept on speaking on a thing she knows next to nothing about. Eventually, the Black student just asked her to stop and just “talk about science, please.”
According to the Times, McCoy’s loud-and-wrongness rightfully got her dragged across social media and as a result, the Cobb County School District released a statement saying it is “aware of the allegations, is investigating, and will follow any relevant District policy,” and that “as a District, we expect every member of our staff to treat each other with respect and understanding.”
Listen: Black life is stressful enough without our youth having to be confronted with white America being white America every time they enter their institutions of learning. Teachers like McCoy don’t belong anywhere near a classroom whether in person or virtual. Hopefully, this incident is handled by authorities who understand that.
DISCUSSION