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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsA teacher tells his class not to date African-Americans 'because they are not worth it'
(CNN)A Florida teacher has been suspended after his school district concluded he repeatedly used the N-word in class, and told his 7th and 8th graders not to date African-Americans "because they are not worth it," among other violations.
David Swinyar, who says he is white in his personnel file, teaches math at Kernan Middle School in Jacksonville. The school has 1,148 students 22.6 percent of whom are African-American.
Just after lunch on October 6, 2017, a student told a school board investigator that their teacher, Swinyar, and students were discussing relationships.
"If your boyfriend says bad things to you and/or treats you wrong, that means he's acting like a n-----," Swinyar said according to student testimony in a school district investigative report. "You all should not be dating all these different African-American boys because they are not worth it."
In what appears to be a separate incident covered in the investigative report, students said Swinyar made other racist remarks in August 2017.
According to the report, Swinyar used the N-word during an argument with a student.
"If my daughter was dating someone who used the 'f' word, I wouldn't have any respect for that n-----," a student recalled Swinyar saying, according to an investigative report. Another student then confronted Swinyar about using the racial slur; he denied using it.
I'm from Appalachia and the racism is so much hostile in Jacksonville, FloriDuh.
I can probably guess who this dude voted for.
hlthe2b
(102,286 posts)or more...
Eliot Rosewater
(31,112 posts)women are no longer safe here...need a place for them to live, not safe here this time next year
Demovictory9
(32,457 posts)ExciteBike66
(2,358 posts)when a math teacher talks to his class about relationship advice!
That said, my adopted state makes me throw up my hands and scream at times. I can't stand Florida Man!
IluvPitties
(3,181 posts)We still got great weather and a lot of diversity in the central and south parts of the state
ExciteBike66
(2,358 posts)Blue_true
(31,261 posts)RKP5637
(67,109 posts)lunasun
(21,646 posts)RKP5637
(67,109 posts)brush
(53,784 posts)malaise
(269,035 posts)bullwinkle428
(20,629 posts)RKP5637
(67,109 posts)ecstatic
(32,707 posts)Fire him now!
MineralMan
(146,317 posts)I'd tell his students not to date stupid people who say stupid things, like your teacher does.
Catherine Vincent
(34,490 posts)They should check his dna. Me thinks there's some self hatred going on.
marybourg
(12,631 posts)Blue_true
(31,261 posts)There are a lot of dark skinned, non Hispanic whites in the state, particularly in the region from southern central Florida northward. There are also lots of very fair skinned whites (the sun hammers their skin).
The guy is an idiot, there are lots of interacial people and dating where I live in Florida.
mreilly
(2,120 posts)... first of all, no teacher in MA would dare to even think this bullshit let alone voice it.
But if they DID voice it, no fucking suspension - they would be FIRED, and would never teach in this state again...
RKP5637
(67,109 posts)DrDan
(20,411 posts)mreilly
(2,120 posts)... and so is reading the entire article.
"That's because they are not leashes, but tethering straps. A portion of the lesson focused on 17th century attire, and what the black child had on was actually a garment worn by toddlers, and the straps were used to assist them when learning to walk."
DrDan
(20,411 posts)I did read the article, btw, and clearly see the issue.
John Fante
(3,479 posts)but it isn't in the same stratosphere as what the Florida teacher said.
DrDan
(20,411 posts)in context
Paladin
(28,262 posts)mreilly
(2,120 posts)... I love it here. I pity anyone who is stuck living in a red state, or worse, forced to defend that state.
Response to Paladin (Reply #32)
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mreilly
(2,120 posts)... take your smug condescension and deliberate misrepresentation of a non-issue elsewhere.
DrDan
(20,411 posts)your "no issue" attitude says a lot about you
Response to DrDan (Reply #49)
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whathehell
(29,067 posts)are thinking, even in Massachusetts. Just sayin'.
Cal Carpenter
(4,959 posts)To think that overt racism in our schools and everywhere else changes between state lines is a sure sign of privilege. Or ignorance. Or some sort of immature regional bias.
mreilly
(2,120 posts).... here we go with another argument over "racists are everywhere you're being mean to my state" argument.
Maybe racism is rampant, but we handle it better in MA, and you and the rest of the peanut gang can gripe about "regional bias" or whatever, but the fact is this stuff seems to overwhelmingly occur in red states compared to blue states.
This argument is no different than the pearl-clutching hysteria over some members here who live in the South when anyone DARES to suggest that maybe there's the tiniest little bit of something wrong with the South. Rather than address the topic, out comes the complaining about bias.
kwassa
(23,340 posts)One of my colleagues started her teaching career in Boston during the busing demonstrations. She is black, and it is still a very unhappy memory for her.
Here is a picture from that time:
mreilly
(2,120 posts).... and that shameful episode 36 years ago is why Massachusetts has zero tolerance for racism now. Unlike some other states which embrace it as part of their "heritage."
Cal Carpenter
(4,959 posts)and
The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein
Dismissing that as a "shameful episode" and claiming that Mass. has "zero tolerance for racism now" shows very clearly that you are romanticizing the past success of movements and ignoring the present-day realities of systemic racism. Keep doing it if you want, but you will keep being wrong if you do.
Response to Cal Carpenter (Reply #45)
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kwassa
(23,340 posts)While most of us wouldnt admit it if were racist, our search history betrays us. Data scientist Seth Stephens-Davidowitz wrote about this methodology in The New York Times:
The conditions under which people use Google online, most likely alone, not participating in an official survey are ideal for capturing what they are really thinking and feeling. You may have typed things into Google that you would hesitate to admit in polite company. I certainly have. The majority of Americans have as well: we Google the word porn more often than the word weather. And many Americans use Google to find racially charged material.
Using this method, researchers found that the rural Northeast (Western Massachusetts falls into this category) and the South are the most racist areas of the United States.
But the most troubling thing the study found is that in area characterized by a one standard deviation greater proportion of racist Google searches, there was an 8.2 percent increase in the all-cause mortality rate among blacks. This percentage amounts to over 30,000 deaths among blacks across America.
https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2015/04/29/how-racist-is-massachusetts-compared-to-the-rest-of-america
On Sunday, the famous Boston Globe Spotlight investigative team published the first of seven installments in a series on race, seeking to discover whether the citys reputation for racism was fair and still deserved.
All signs point to yes:
The Globe Spotlight Team analyzed data, launched surveys, and conducted hundreds of interviews, to answer just that question. Spotlight examined the core of Bostons identity: our renowned colleges and world-class medical institutions; the growth that keeps expanding our skyline; business and politics; and our championship sports teams.
And the Spotlight reporters, to get a sense of how much black residents are part of the mainstream of the city, did something decidedly old-school: They visited a number of iconic Boston places and simply counted the number of black people they saw.
All told, the findings were troubling. The reasons are complex.
But this much we know: Here in Boston, a city known as a liberal bastion, we have deluded ourselves into believing weve made more progress than we have.
http://fortune.com/2017/12/11/raceahead-why-is-boston-so-racist/
Now, the full spotlight report is hidden behind a paywall at The Globe, and I am not about to buy a subscription just to read it.
kwassa
(23,340 posts)In summary, here is what we read: If you are black in Boston, you are more likely to live in a city characterized by apartheid-like residential conditions, experience extreme poverty, die at an early age because of racial health disparities, suffer from persistent unemployment or be victimized by violent crime.
Being black in Boston produces victims, exposing them to severe social, cultural and political toxicities of all kinds. It means being cursed because of the color of your skin, judged based upon your racial heritage, denigrated because of your facial phenotype, harassed because of your dialect, dismissed for your gaiting swag, summarily shunned because of the exotic spelling of your name. To be black in Boston also requires you to endure the spiritual embarrassment of passing celebrated public spaces like Faneuil Hall, knowing that its construction was the result of the sale of a black slave.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/boston-globe-racism-series-not-news-to-citys-blacks_us_5a395c11e4b0cebf48e9f812
raccoon
(31,111 posts)Florida is full of transplants from other states, including blue states.
Cal Carpenter
(4,959 posts)so you're repeating your same bad arguments to the wrong person. You've made yourself very clear. I have no further comment.
mreilly
(2,120 posts)Bye!
dalton99a
(81,514 posts)writes3000
(4,734 posts)ProfessorGAC
(65,060 posts)He has no place teaching kids.
shanti
(21,675 posts)but if he did, he's sorry. wtf?
lpbk2713
(42,759 posts)This is how (R)s apologize when they are caught with no other way to weasel out.
Blue_true
(31,261 posts)He may be keeping that ace up his sleeve, works like a charm in the South, unfortunately.
IluvPitties
(3,181 posts)Aristus
(66,381 posts)Blue_true
(31,261 posts)BoneyardDem
(1,202 posts)seriously, ugly, pointy headed, dumb asses casting asparagus on others, have a huge problem with self perception.
Blue_true
(31,261 posts)I honestly have never seen a really attractive white preach white supremacy. I have seen some above average looking ones occasionally preach it, but never in my life have I seen a drop dead gorgeous one, male or female do it.
bronxiteforever
(9,287 posts)I am sure that encourage a free and open discussion with people of color.
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)How is he not fired??
IronLionZion
(45,450 posts)jmowreader
(50,559 posts)And I get this strange feeling, teenagers being who they are and always have been, that white students dating African-American students will suddenly become very popular at Kernan Middle School.
IronLionZion
(45,450 posts)yup, teenagers are very rebellious. They'll do the opposite of what an asshole teacher tells them to do.