Florida Teacher Allegedly Told Black Students, ‘Don’t Make Me Call Donald Trump And Get You Sent Back To Africa’
A Florida high school teacher has been placed on leave for allegedly telling a group of black students, “Don’t make me call Donald Trump and get you sent back to Africa,” the New York Daily News is reporting.
Until last week, John Sousa was a teacher and golf coach at Wesley Chapel High School in suburban Tampa.
John Sousa, Florida High School Teacher, On Leave After Trump Comment https://t.co/jU71oDHBy9 pic.twitter.com/TS34Miq1Gx
— A????y?w (@SCOJAY_) November 14, 2016
However, on Wednesday — the day after Donald Trump was elected president — parent Donnie Jones Jr. took to Facebook to complain about Sousa’s behavior that day.
“My child and two other students walking down the hallway at Wesley Chapel High School and a white male teacher asks them what are they up to. (it’s during period break so they are suppose to be there mind you) Anyway the teacher says to them ‘Don’t make me call Donald Trump to get you sent back to Africa.'”
Students also complained to school officials, according to the New York Daily News. In fact, by the time Jones had written his Facebook post, officials had already begun an investigation, Linda Cobbe, the director of communications for Pasco County Schools, said in a statement.
“Pasco County Schools takes this alleged behavior very seriously and we will not tolerate it. We are following our investigative procedures and will take appropriate action.”
As of this writing, it is unclear what will happen to Sousa. Several options are on the table, including a suspension without pay, or even termination.
Sousa has apologized for his statements, but Jones isn’t convinced he’s genuinely remorseful.
“I believe he’s sorry but he’s only sorry because he’s in trouble.”
Following Trump’s election last week, several incidents of racist remarks and actions being made by school teachers, and even kids, have hit the news.
In San Jose, according to the Mercury News, an unidentified gym teacher allegedly singled out a student who was refusing to stand for the national anthem. The teacher made the student stand before the class and then told him that Trump was going to deport him.
“Good luck with being deported now that Donald Trump is president…. You guys had it better here than you will over there.”
In Michigan, a group of male students locked arms and formed a metaphorical human wall and then hassled a Latina student, telling her that Trump was going to send her back to her country and that they (the boys) were going to “make America great again,” according to this Inquisitr report. The mother of another student at the same school, Kellie Demmers, claims her daughter, who is Asian American, was told by another student that she should be deported. She also claims that school officials chided her for taking her complaints to social media.
Florida Teacher To Black Students: I Will ‘Call Donald Trump’ To Get You ‘Sent Back to… https://t.co/tnN2ugfWBe pic.twitter.com/x480gKwo6b
— Bipartisan Report (@Bipartisanism) November 15, 2016
“They thought they were just going sweep this under the rug and I’m not the sort of parent that is going to let that happen.”
The problem of racist incidents in the wake of Trump’s election is not limited to schools. According to a USA Today report, the Southern Poverty Law Center indicates that there has been a dramatic rise in hate crimes since Trump’s election, even worse than the spate of hate crimes that took place after the events of September 11, 2001.
“Since the election, we’ve seen a big uptick in incidents of vandalism, threats, intimidation spurred by the rhetoric surrounding Mr. Trump’s election. The white supremacists out there are celebrating his victory and many are feeling their oats.”
Do you think the Florida teacher who told black students that Trump was going to deport them should be fired?
[Featured Image by Hasan Shaheed/Shutterstock]
