It’s shocking what some kids will say to a teacher in today’s public schools. But it was even more shocking what a teacher said back to a student who called him “sir.”
Jabre White attends Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, Iowa, which has about 1,708 students of which 22 percent are black, 11 percent Hispanic and 54 percent white. White was instructed by his teacher, Shawn McCurtain, to go downstairs to take a final exam, to which White replied, “Yes sir.”
His teacher then stated to him, “You meant to say yes sir, master.”
The outrageous and disrespectful comment caused White to respond, “Who the f— are you talking to? You’re nobody’s master, and this is not the slave days.”
Now Jabre’s mother, Nicholle White, is demanding action. When the exchange was brought to her attention by her son, she requested action from school officials. Vice principal Joseph Blazevich investigated and did confirm that the comment was made by the teacher. Blazevich told Ms. White that he thought the incident was “terrible and shameful” and that the instructor was remorseful over the entire incident. However, he would not state what steps the school would take in disciplining the teacher because of personnel rules and regulations.
A spokesman for the school district, Phil Roeder said, “District policy clearly bars any form of discrimination, including comments by an employee toward a student. To put it mildly, it was wrong in every way you look at it.”
Ms. White intends to file a complaint with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission and the NAACP because she feels the matter was not taken seriously.
