A teacher tells his class not to date African-Americans 'because they are not worth it'

[IronLionZion]

https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/08/health/duval-county-teacher-racial-slur-trnd/index.html



(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]

1. Uggh... I fear Trump's "unleashing" will haunt us for a generation

or more...

[Eliot Rosewater]

26. Plus

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100210335511


women are no longer safe here...need a place for them to live, not safe here this time next year

[Demovictory9]

60. agreed

[ExciteBike66]

2. Stuff like this is a common problem

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]

18. Florida ain't bad.

We still got great weather and a lot of diversity in the central and south parts of the state

[ExciteBike66]

35. Oh I know, I can ride to work year-round (except this week)... nt

[Blue_true]

3. He sure looks like a Nazi thug. All he need is the Brownshirt. nt

[RKP5637]

6. Probably one tRump would give a gun to. Defend the students, well, not all, not them. FFS!!!! n/t

[lunasun]

9. Thinking the same. Just wait until he is in a classroom with a gun

[RKP5637]

11. And there are a number of Mexican and black students, and also those that don't fit his mold. n/t

[brush]

20. I'd advice AAs not to date this ugly mug (sorry, I couldn't help myself).

[malaise]

24. You stole my post

[bullwinkle428]

37. The perfect face to represent the United States of Trumpmerica.

[RKP5637]

4. Looks like POS and then he speaks sh**! nT

[ecstatic]

5. Suspended? This guy has the power to ruin lives

Fire him now!

[MineralMan]

7. As an example of "white" people, he's not stellar, I think.

I'd tell his students not to date stupid people who say stupid things, like your teacher does.

[Catherine Vincent]

8. Ugh!

They should check his dna. Me thinks there's some self hatred going on.

[marybourg]

36. I was thinking the same thing. nt

[Blue_true]

55. That is typical in Florida.

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]

10. Thank God I live in Massachusetts...

... 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]

12. K&R!!!!! n/t

[DrDan]

19. yep - never happens in Mass - teacher with 2 white students holding leashes to a black child

https://patch.com/massachusetts/brockton/bridgewater-school-sorry-photo-black-girl-leaches

[mreilly]

23. Context is important...

... 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]

25. so you see nothing wrong with this . . . got it

I did read the article, btw, and clearly see the issue.

[John Fante]

30. It looks bad without context

but it isn't in the same stratosphere as what the Florida teacher said.

[DrDan]

31. I agree with you re the Florida teacher - but do not see the picture as being ok even

in context

[Paladin]

32. Nice to see some of our blue-staters losing some of that self-satisfaction. (nt)

[mreilly]

39. I've lost nothing...

... I love it here. I pity anyone who is stuck living in a red state, or worse, forced to defend that state.

[mreilly]

40. There isn't any issue...

... take your smug condescension and deliberate misrepresentation of a non-issue elsewhere.

[DrDan]

49. you see nothing wrong with a picture of a black child on a leash . . . and you insult me

your "no issue" attitude says a lot about you

[whathehell]

29. Actions are one thing, but no one knows what others

are thinking, even in Massachusetts. Just sayin'.

[Cal Carpenter]

33. Are you naive or willfully ignorant?

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]

41. LOL, mountains vs molehills

.... 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]

42. Racism does exist everywhere.

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]

43. That was 1972...

.... 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]

45. Recommended reading, in all seriousness:

A More Beautiful and Terrible History: The Uses and Misuses of Civil Rights History by Jeanne Theoharis

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.

[kwassa]

46. Let's see now ....

While most of us wouldn’t admit it if we’re 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 city’s 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 Boston’s 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 we’ve 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]

48. More about the Globe story.

Over an extended seven-day period, the inglorious matters of black life in Boston were featured in bold relief on the pages of the city’s largest newspaper. With ostentatious “above the fold” font captions — and photos calculated to capture attention ― readers were exposed to the hidden realities that make Boston a house of horrors for more than a quarter of its residents.

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]

47. Thank you! Also the OP references "FloriDuh"

Florida is full of transplants from other states, including blue states.

[Cal Carpenter]

44. Except I'm not from the south

so you're repeating your same bad arguments to the wrong person. You've made yourself very clear. I have no further comment.

[mreilly]

51. Good, go away.

Bye!

[dalton99a]

13. So they're giving him a desk job with no teaching duties

[writes3000]

14. Classy. May the kids of Florida continue to speak up and lead the way. Bravo to them.

[ProfessorGAC]

15. Fire Him!

He has no place teaching kids.

[shanti]

16. He denies saying it...

but if he did, he's sorry. wtf?

[lpbk2713]

28. The standard rethug apology.

This is how (R)s apologize when they are caught with no other way to weasel out.

[Blue_true]

56. At least he didn't bring God into it, at least not yet.

He may be keeping that ace up his sleeve, works like a charm in the South, unfortunately.

[IluvPitties]

17. Trump's America at work.

[Aristus]

21. Jesus. He is what happens when cousins marry...

[Blue_true]

57. There likely has been a lot of inter-breeding in that family for a while. nt

[BoneyardDem]

22. well ain't he just gorgeous enough to date?

seriously, ugly, pointy headed, dumb asses casting asparagus on others, have a huge problem with self perception.

[Blue_true]

58. It is always those type that preach race purity.

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]

27. The GOP will arm this man in the classroom.

I am sure that encourage a free and open discussion with people of color.

[Blue_Tires]

34. LOL WHUT

How is he not fired??

[IronLionZion]

38. Some people in the northern part of the state really put the duh in FloriDUH

[jmowreader]

54. Is there any particular reason his head is shaped like the tip of a penis?

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]

59. It matches his personality

yup, teenagers are very rebellious. They'll do the opposite of what an asshole teacher tells them to do.