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A teacher from a Texas middle school has been placed on administrative leave after a series of videos of him making racist comments in the classroom went viral. The video was posted on Friday, November 11, 2022, on the Instagram handle. @808mafiaboss, which belongs to the parent of one of the students in the class.
The footage shows an unnamed white teacher from Bohls Middle School in the Pflugerville Independent School District (ISD) discussing everyday racism with his students. At one point during the conversation, the teacher is seen admitting to being a racist. The Texas middle school teacher can also be seen stating that he believes his race is "superior" and proceeds to explain:
"Deep down in my heart, I am ethnocentric, which means I think my race is the superior one...I think everybody thinks that they’re just not honest about it."
The video also shows students asserting that they are not racist, and stating that they have lost respect for their teacher owing to his comments.
At the time of writing this, the video had garnered 275,000 likes and 4000 comments. The footage made its way over to TikTok and Twitter as well, where netizens were left appalled at the teacher's words. One Twitter user commented:
Netizens demand racist Texas middle school teacher be fired
After the video went viral, Pflugerville (ISD) released an official statement announcing that the teacher has been placed on administrative leave until further investigation over the "inappropriate conversation" is completed.
While many netizens expressed their shock and disgust at the teacher's comments, some also pointed out the lack of a stronger reaction by the school district and demanded that the teacher be fired.
The comments section under the viral video on Instagram was flooded with internet users expressing their shock and disappointment over the incident.
The racist remarks also faced significant backlash on Twitter, with many praising the children in the video for their mature response to the Texas middle school teacher's comments:
Texas Middle School releases official statement
On Friday, a joint statement was released by Bohls Middle School principal Sharon Churchin and Pflugerville schools Superintendent Douglas Killian. The statement mentioned that authorities were aware of the "inappropriate comments" that took place during the advisory class, adding that such comments "don't align with their core beliefs." It continued:
"The advisory activity was inappropriate, inaccurate, and unacceptable. This type of interaction will not be tolerated in PfISD schools."
The statement also asserted that both the middle school, as well as the school district aimed to create an "inclusive and welcoming environment" for all students. Furthermore, it mentioned the steps that the Texas middle school authorities had taken to ensure the well being of students following the incident:
"Staff checked in with students today. Our counselors and administrators are always available if your student wants to discuss this situation further."
Towards the end, the statement asked students to "self-advocate" and "let an adult know when something is wrong." It concluded by apologizing for the stress and concern caused.
