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Students at Farmington High School staged a protest on Thursday after a substitute teacher used a racist phrase toward a Black student.
According to WDIV, the incident was captured on video and posted online. The unidentified teacher’s comment prompted students to walk out of class and address the educator’s actions with the district’s superintendent.
The substitute teacher reportedly said, “Get your cotton-picking hands off of it,” to a Black student touching an object in the classroom.
The term “cotton-picking” is used in America towards enslaved people who had to pick cotton on plantations.
A student in the classroom recorded the teacher apologizing for the racist incident, claiming that it wasn’t meant to offend anyone.
“It’s not meant to be offensive in any way, and you know what? In listening to what you’re — the grumbling and what you’re saying to me. I can understand now why it might be, but it wasn’t meant to hurt,” the teacher said.
Some parents have expressed their disappointment over the educator’s racist comment.
“We are tired, we are tired,” said Keiona Turner, who’s a tenth grader who attends Farmington High School in Farmington, Michigan.
“We have known that our ancestors have had to pick cotton. We are in the north, so there wasn’t much cotton picking up here. So, this is something that had to be ingrained in this person,” Turner told ABC 7.
After the teacher uttered the offensive words, students at Farmington High School walked out of class and protested against the racial incident. While the video quickly went viral on social media, students from nearby North Farmington High School reportedly joined
the walkout, chanting “Black Lives Matter” as they marched towards the superintendent’s office in downtown Farmington.“Racism is just. It’s not good for anyone. Let’s be honest here. Like when she can say that type of thing and think that there’s nothing wrong with it. ’Cause, that will affect me for the rest of my life even if I’m not even thinking about it — it’ll be in the back of my mind, subconsciously,” the student told WDIV.
The school district sent a letter to parents stating that the teacher was immediately removed from the building and will not return to Farmington High School or work for the district again.
“While we can conduct background checks and fingerprint for substitute teachers, we cannot screen for what’s in their hearts and minds. If you harbor racist feelings and do not embrace our diversity as a strength, do not apply to Farmington Public Schools,” Superintendent Christopher J. Delgado said
.“We thank both the Farmington Hills Police Department and the Farmington Public Safety Department for assisting us with this effort,” he said.
The school district has provided counseling and social work support to help students and staff following the incident.
Farmington Hills is a northern suburb of Detroit and the second-largest city in Oakland.