A California school has been entangled in years of bitter controversy after an educator burst into the teachers' lounge and admitted she'd called a student the N-word -- and it's only been further inflamed by an incident last month that revolved around claims that Black people have a "pimp walk gene."
The situation at Luther Burbank High School showcases the treacherous waters through which Black educators must wade as they navigate administrative politics and mounting racial tensions nationwide following the death of George Floyd, the Sacramento Bee reports.
“Racism hurts all of us," said educator Erinn Leone. "Our school community is being harmed by this."
The story begins in Feb. 6, 2020, when Leone, who is Black, told the Bee a fellow teacher entered the lounge and appeared "triggered" by her presence.
The teacher had been visibly upset by an interaction with a student who had said, "What's up" and addressed her with the racial slur, according to the report.
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“What right does (the student) have to call me that?” the teacher, who is not Black, reportedly said. “I said that’s what you are."
Leone became increasingly frustrated as the teacher repeated to use the N-word and fellow educators came to her aid.
“People in the staff meeting were looking at me as if I’m shouting the N-word in the staff meeting,” Leone told the Bee. “I didn’t do anything unprofessional.”
Leone left in tears and was later summoned to Principal Jim Peterson’s office for a discussion, Assistant Principal Antoine Germany told the outlet.
“I remember talking to Leone about it, trying to comfort her, but I said ‘look, this is a situation where it’s probably not going to have a good outcome,’” Germany said. “I was trying to prepare her for that.”
The teacher was reportedly put on paid administrative leave but months later — when Floyd's death under the knee of Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin — Leone's calls for the teacher's removal were reportedly ignored.
Tensions erupted again in May of this year when Leone won Teacher of the Year and Germany referenced the interaction in his speech.
Some teachers celebrated his decision — "I heard him saying...he had vowed to work against systemic and institutional racism," replied educator Lara Hoekstra — but others were outraged.
"He was asked by the district human relations department not to return for the last week of school," the Bee reports.
Then, in June, a Luther Burbank teacher handed students a biology test that referenced them by name and suggested Black people have a dominant "gene for the pimp walk," the Sacramento Bee reported on July 10.
"When the offensive biology test became public, Leone worried that the teacher wouldn’t adequately be held accountable for his actions based on the way the teacher who used racial slurs in her presence was not disciplined," the Bee reported Tuesday.
"The teacher who gave the test, Alex Nguyen, has been put on administrative leave and the district’s human relations department is still investigating the matter."
But Leone and Hoekstra remain concerned with her school's administration and how it handles matters of race. Germany has no regrets.
“I have a very similar background to our students and I believe that there’s no point in being in a position of authority if you’re not going to use it for good,” he told the outlet.
“We all want an antiracist environment, but practically speaking the way these things work actually limits or harms doing anything proactive to advance those causes.”
