A white New York school teacher allegedly accused of putting up a racially offensive image in a classroom claims she was a victim of racial discrimination herself.
In 2019 an image circulated of a collage displayed in a classroom at Roosevelt Middle School in New York that sparked outrage among the community and school district officials.
The photo, part of a larger classroom display of teachers and students, showed a pair of nooses under a caption that said “back to school necklaces,” alongside the words, “Ha Ha,” “#YES” and a smiley face.
The school district blamed an “isolated group of teachers” for the collage and said “appropriate action” had been taken, according to The Daily Beast.
Years after the incident, Nancy Jones Doering filed a lawsuit against the school district, revealing herself as one of the teachers accused.
I might get downvoted to oblivion, but I’m open to discussion.
Firstly, having read the full article… IF (big if) she’s telling the truth and it wasn’t even her then its hard not to feel sympathy for her.
Secondly (more controversially), is a picture of a noose racist? I mean, it certainly has racist connotations and I personally wouldn’t have used it, but (bear with me) I’m not sure racist is the concrete conclusion. Lots of people have been hung throughout history, if you’re not viewing it through a racial lens then are you a racist or just very insensitive.
What about if it was a picture of a mastiff? Or a police officer? Both these things could symbolise the subjugation of slaves. Are we really gonna ban pictures of dogs or police?
Symbols mean different things to different people. Sometimes people just need to be told they’ve been insensitive and given the chance to apologise with promise of doing better in the future.
There is a scenario where whoever put that up was not invoking the lynchings of black people specifically.
Just my 2c.