Teacher accused son of racism

[Claireabella1]

Ive been a long time lurker but posted about something else earlier this week and really appreciated the advice I got, so here I go again. I received a call today from my son's school. It was the mentor for his year telling me that my son and another child had been placed in isolation for making racist comments towards a teacher and she was investigating. She said next step was to talk to all children in the class and also two other members of staff in the classroom at the time. I asked her what comment was made and it was vile. She told me my son was very upset and I knew in my gut he didn't do this, but was willing to listen and asked her to update me. She did (within half an hour) all children in class and the two other adults agreed what my son said was relevant and not racist (history class, talking about the plague, teacher called it 'black death' and DS said he'd heard of that, it killed lots of people) for context, hes12. Other member of staff said he took the comment as part of relevant classroom discussion. Mentor sounded embarrassed when she relayed this to me and apologised a lot, she admitted no racist comments had been made by anyone (DS air the other boy) she said teacher was confused and stressed. I asked if teacher would apologise to my DS and mentor said yes. She hasn't apologised and I'm fucking reeling. I think racism is a serious allegation and you can't just accuse someone of racism and then say 'whoops'I was stressed. I'm also worried that because they had to speak to the other children in the class things might become outrageous as they do in high school and my DS may suffer some backlash he doesn't deserve. I'm honestly fuming, he's the loveliest boy and has been through so much, this is so unfair to him.

This is bizarre!

I would pursue this and ask for an adequate explanation of what happened. And an apology. And no trace of this on your son’s record.

This teacher frankly sounds like s/he is having some kind of break down.

Does this teacher routinely teach history? As unless s/he is a PE or maths teacher unfairly expected to cover a subject they have no idea about... how can this have happened?

The Black Death is an extremely well known name for the plague. It’s etymology is based on the physical symptoms this disease causes, and is in no way, shape or form related to ethnicity, race or skin colour. To make this leap shows either a completely unacceptable level of ignorance about the subject they are supposed to be teaching, or some kind of extreme reaction to stress or other mental illness.

I’m wondering if the teacher somehow fantasised a whole other conversation / discussion happening in which two pupils make that odd leap themselves from the Black Death in the Middle Ages to race via skin colour or something like that? This is the most worrying bit of the whole incident, as the teacher must have imagined an extreme incident which appears to be ungrounded in any fact or reality whatsoever?!

I’d be asking whether the school feels this teacher is well enough to discharge her duties in the light of this incident.

I’d be asking what support the school will be providing for this teacher - not that you’ll get an answer as that would be confidential, but to ensure it’s clear that the school need to be stepping up here, and not either scapegoating the teacher/ or covering it up with no changes.

I think that, in your place, I would want to speak to the teacher who made this accusation, face-to-face. I would not be satisfied if I felt I was being fobbed off over the phone. I would insist on going to the school and speaking to this teacher.

I would go in and have a meeting, it lets them know you will not be a push over and accept whatever they say and it lets your son know in no uncertain terms you will defend him from any false accusations and it makes it hard for them to just push under the rug and let the matter die down rather than have the teacher say shes sorry and also it gives you the chance to double check it is not on his file.... i found you really only have to make a fuss once and like the kids they learn you are on top of things and will remain so, so don't fuck with that kids mother, might make you "that mother" but when you call they answer, and answer fast ;)

I'd want a clear, written record of this whole thing, with an apology by the teacher. Signed by all 3 adults in the class.

Your ds may not want a fuss, but I'd be worried about him gaining some kind of reputation that could follow him around, on a 'no smoke without fire' basis, iswim.

I hate the way kids learn they have to appease teachers' egos and just lay low when they're not the ones in the wrong because they are concerned the teacher will consciously or unconsciously downgrade their marks to punish them for speaking up.

Does the school have any statues it can tear down?

Are you making a reference to the removal of Confederate statues, erected in large part to glorify Jim Crow and racial segregation in the US South, from neighborhoods in the American South, many of which have large African American populations? Are you suggesting that these statues should remain? Just curious, as I live in one of those communities.

(history class, talking about the plague, teacher called it 'black death' and DS said he'd heard of that, it killed lots of people

The teacher called it the 'Black Death', not the DS.

OP, what was the 'vile comment'? Was it 'I've heard of that, it killed lots of people'? Or something else altogether?

I asked her what comment was made and it was vile

This suggests that the mentor repeated the (alleged) comment to you (before later retracting).

What as the comment??

I think a written apology is appropriate. This is very poor. By HoY aswell - dismissive.

So what was said in the sit down meeting? Did the teacher at least acknowledge that they had misheard? Was there anyone else at the sit-down meeting? The fact that meeting has happened but no apology makes it sound like the teacher doesn't/won't admit they're wrong, rather than not having the time to apologise. Not good enough.

A whole load of outrage from ppl about something we haven't even been given the pertinent details of from OP.
Everyone mishears something at some point, the incident was dealt with swiftly, and it seems the only thing not yet concluded is the apology. As has been said, teachers have little chance of finding a pupil before/after school, or at breaks/lunchtime. The teacher may have other duties or supervision during this time, or may not even be there full time.
It seems really odd that two other members of staff in the classroom didn't speak up at the time, or when they realised DC was in isolation. Which would have been evident at the time and pretty much instantaneous - DC would have mentioned it if he was so upset, and isolation was for the next day.
How long have you been waiting for this apology? What exactly was the 'vile comment'? I'm not trying to encourage racism on the thread, but am finding it very difficult to think of anything which a teacher would have reported if they weren't pretty sure that's what they heard. Why would they even make it up? They must have misheard it as that. Surely a mistake rather than malicious behaviour. You going on the warpath isn't going to do any good, but will strain relations all round, I imagine.

This must have been very upsetting for your child. I’m glad the school has admitted fault but it doesn’t take away your child’s time spent in isolation OR his sense of injustice. I hope in time he will be able to move on from this. It’s awful for a ‘stressed’ teacher to accuse your child of racism. That’s a strong allegation, even worse when unfounded.

I'll tell you what, why don't you go in 'all guns blazing' and 'on the warpath' and refuse to leave until the teacher has recorded herself apologising a la Nick Clegg and the school has uploaded the video onto YouTube . That will teach them not to mess with your son again.

Why is there an assumption here that the teacher has deliberately made something up? Surely she just thought he said something he didn't, it was investigated and now he has been cleared. Upsetting for him probably, yes, but not going to cause any long-term issues unless you make it into a big deal and make him a victim.

The teacher being stressed (and I'm not at all sure you should have been told that), and there being two other adults in the room makes me wonder whether it might not be quite a tricky class, perhaps a noisy one with comments being made here, there and everywhere, and that is why the misunderstanding arose. Maybe not, but no teacher, however stressed, unless to the point of psychosis, is going to make this stuff up for the hell of it. It will have been a massive ball ache for her and she would have nothing whatsoever to gain from it. Likewise, people saying she/others will hold it against him and mark him down are also being ridiculous - teachers are judged by the progress pupils make and would be crackers to mark kids down just for the hell of it, aside from any other reasons why they wouldn't do so. As for it being on his record, check that it won't be if you like, but that will make fuck all difference to his life, including while he's at school, anyway.

Finally, I would love to know what was said at the 'sit down' as that makes a big difference imo. Did she do a bit of an apology where she stopped short of actually saying sorry? That can be annoying, but unless she was rude or threatening or something I'd say the matter is now closed and you need to let it go.

What was the "vile comment"?

Calling someone racist is about the worst thing you can say to someone these days in terms of reputation damage so I agree with pp that it is not acceptable for this teacher to have not apologised yet.

You need to ask you son what happened, ie did the teacher call him racist in front of the class or privately? If the former I would expect the teacher to admit to the class they they made a mistake as well as apologise in private.

Teacher may be stressed which I sympathise with but it doesn't mean such a serious allegation is just brushed off. I would calmly escalate to the head to resolve.

It is a big issue as your son and other children may now be afraid to even use words like black without false accusations, in this teacher's class as well as others, not exactly conducive to learning.

I remember the helplessness of being accused of something I hadn't done as a child.
This accusation could have had very serious implications for OPs DS and the teacher needs to address it as a priority. Stress is no excuse. If she's that stressed that she makes those kind of mistakes and can't bring herself to apologise, then maybe she needs some time off.
Teachers do not have the monopoly on stress.

Was the comment made up or misheard? There is a difference.

Claireabella1

First of all give the teacher time to appologise. I screwed up once (probably more but this one the child was 100% right) but I didn't see the child to appologise for 3 days.

When I did see him he got a full apology.

If students are doing an activity such as group discussion table by table and you are circulating I can easily see this happening, boys talking about the plague, one says, "Yeah it was called the BLACK death, killed loads of people" and someone over hears it as, "Blacks kill loads of people".

Without knowing the comment it is impossible to say how it could be construed or misheard.

Without knowing what the comment was it is inpossible to know if it was made up or misheard.

This week students misheard something I said and started laughing. I didn't know why. They said what they thought I'd said. It did sound rude but it wasn't what I said.
Equally, I've misheard what students have said before.

There are to many important details missing to give any constructive advuve (though i have a feeling that's not required as the thread is more of a 'i am outraged at school. Join me in my outrage' thread)

Perhaps it could be called the Red Death, and all classes could watch Vincent Price as part of the curriculum.

Could it be some kind of miscommunication.

E.g. the teacher did hear a vile comment in the classroom, and perhaps mistakenly thought it came from your son, and that this has nothing to do with the "black death" comment, which is innocuous??

Duchess......all of this.* This is exactly what I was thinking. So much outrage here over a mistake.* I also agree that maybe the teacher said something along the lines of an apology but stopped short of using the word sorry.

How odd