An incident at an Indiana middle school has led to outrage after a teacher reportedly remarked that his students were “acting like monkeys in a zoo.”
This incident took place in a fifth-grade classroom at Merrillville Intermediate School on February 24. The students immediately reported the comment to the principal, and concerned parents addressed the issue at a following school board meeting, as reported by the Chicago Tribune.
Dexter Suggs, who has been the school superintendent for two years and is African American, stated that the teacher’s comment was not intended to be racist. However, the teacher has been suspended with pay while the matter is being investigated.
“The teacher expressed frustration with the students’ behavior and offered an apology without any prompting from school administrators,” Suggs explained.
Despite the teacher’s apology, some parents remain upset about his alleged remarks.
One parent alleged that this was not the first instance of the teacher making racially insensitive comments.
“This is what he thinks about our kids,” the parent, who is an educator in a nearby district, said.
Stephen Mays, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s Gary branch, scolded the school district for allowing the teacher – who wasn’t initially suspended – to return to the classroom, and not meeting with parents.
“You let your kids go back to the classroom for that kind of abuse and so people are outraged and now it’s getting out of control,” Mays said.
“Do your job… so we can tamp this down and lower the temperature. To not talk to [parents] is insulting.”
DeLena Thomas, whose kids are enrolled in schools in the district, echoed calls for a resolution.
“It’s not something we take lightly, we’re preparing our kids for a world that is racially tense right now,” she said.
Board members also apologized to parents, and Suggs hopes the investigation will be concluded by Friday.
The school is home to 5th and 6th graders and around 780 students are enrolled, according to the state’s Graduates Prepared to Succeed program.
The controversy comes just weeks after Hunter College professor Allyson Friedman sparked fury when she made comments about black students on a hot mic.
