A teacher in in Kansas City, Missouri, has been accused of using a racial slur during a class discussion, KSHB reports.
A town hall with parents, students and alumni within the University Academy community, along with members of civil rights groups, was held at the Gregg/Klice Community Center to discuss the issue.
“I was extremely angered and hurt," said Melissa Robinson, a KCMO councilwoman whose two children attend the school. “I am extremely disturbed that in 2022, our children would be exposed to such racial violence and the response is unconscionable."
“When children try to go about it in a dignified manner expressing, 'You are a teacher, you are the teaching leader and this is inappropriate,' and then for the leader to just turn around and say, 'I am who I am, you are who you are,' that’s not going to cut it,” said Bishop Frank Douglas, a board member with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Kansas City.
The incident occurred on Nov. 10, but parents weren't notified until Nov. 29.
“The response from the school as it comes to communicating with parents what happened was unacceptable,” Robinson said. “This happened November 10th and we weren’t notified until after the Thanksgiving holiday.”
In a statement to KSHB, University Academy Superintendent Rebecca Gudde said that if "you listen to the beginning of the video, you will hear the word that was used by the teacher while in the classroom."
"While we are concluding our internal investigation, we have been in communication with the UA community and with the leaders of various civil rights organizations in the area regarding our process and what steps we are taking to ensure a safe, productive learning environment for our students," Gudde said.
