California Teacher Forced To Retire: Shows Confederate Flag During A History Lesson


A California Teacher has been forced to retire after showing the confederate flag during a history lesson, Heatstreet reports.

Woody Hart, 70, was giving a lesson about the Civil War to a group of middle school children at Sutter Middle School in Folsom, California. But when she displayed the confederate flag, she was accused of displaying the flag for reasons other than that of a history lesson.

Folsom Cordova Unified School District revealed in a public statement that they do not believe that Hart was sending the right message to the students.

“We recognize that regardless of context, to many of our students, families, and staff, the Confederate flag is a racist symbol of hate. Although this matter is under investigation, it is important to reiterate: Any employee who is found to engage in behavior that creates an unsafe environment for students will face full consequences, including the possibility of initiating termination proceedings. In this case, the flag — which was found across the room from a Civil War Union flag, potentially in preparation of a history activity — was removed from the classroom before school began today. It is our schools’ responsibility to provide a safe learning environment for all children.”

This accusation came in connection to a previous racial controversy last year when a family complained that he made “an inappropriate lynching analogy,” which was thought to be racially insensitive. The complaint was quoted by the family member in regards to what exactly Hart said.

“When you hang one black person, you have to hang them all. That is equality.”

According to the family member of the student, Hart was discussing how southerners were required to treat all individuals from different states in the same manner that we treat black residents. However, Hart defended himself by mentioning that he was simply explaining equality versus racial discrimination.

Deborah Bettencourt, the school Superintendent, stated that it is not their desire to limit a teacher’s freedom of speech, but does expect teachers and staff to use “culturally appropriate strategies.”

According to The Atlantic, racism has been a major issue since before Obama became the first black president. When Obama took office, many were hoping that it would help ease racial tensions, but instead, it made it worse.

Black Lives Matter groups have been protesting left and right, creating a racial war, essentially. Unfortunately, President Trump now has to make an attempt to undo what Obama has done during his “divisive presidency.” Obama could have made an effort to ease the diversity issues, but instead, he didn’t.

[Image by Ted S. Warren/AP Images]

A poll conducted by CNN in 2015 showed that racism is on the rise and is a huge problem. Nearly half of those who took part in the poll thought that racism was a huge problem. An additional 33-percent thought racism to be “somewhat of a problem.”

What does this mean for America? Four years prior to this poll, only a quarter of Americans thought that racism was a big problem. Two decades ago, after the Rodney King case and the O.J. Simpson trial, 41-percent of Americans thought that racism was a huge issue. Why did it take such a huge leap from just four years ago?

According to CNN, the media began publishing stories of officer-involved shootings, some allegedly involving “unarmed black men,” which seemed to have fed the flames of racism once again.

[Image by Sue Ogrocki, File/AP Images]

An 80-year-old retired advertising executive revealed to CNN that he feels the media is causing such a racial outrage.

“I am troubled by the bias I see in the media, that seems to spend all its time talking about the bad policemen and the bad white people, and ignoring the crime and the disastrous conditions that are occurring in large segments of the black youth.”

Others argue that the police are getting away with shooting black people by only getting a “slap on the wrist.”

Glenn Adams, a professor of psychology at the University of Kansas, compared racism to a game of ball.

“Is the guy out or safe? Well, it depends who you’re rooting for. Sometimes it’s clear in either direction, but we tend to see it how we want to see it.”

[Featured Image by Shutterstock]

Share this article: California Teacher Forced To Retire: Shows Confederate Flag During A History Lesson
More from Inquisitr