Empty desks in classroom

A teacher from Oklahoma City is under fire for their recent comments about white people.

One high school student is speaking out about the teacher’s lecture on the topic how to “heal the racial divide.” The young lady, who did not want to be identified, says that she was stunned by what was being taught, so she pulled out her phone and started recording.

The statement from the audio that stuck out the most was when the teacher declared, “to be white is to be racist, period,” which caused the student to feel offended. The teacher continued in the recording, “Am I racist? I say yea. I don’t want to be. It’s not like choose to be racist, but do I do things because of the way I was raised?” 

Upset that the teacher made her feel uncomfortable, the girl told the local news, “Half of my family is Hispanic so I just felt like, you know, him calling me racist just because I’m white. I mean, where’s your proof in that? You start telling someone something over and over again that’s an opinion and they start taking it as fact. So I wanted him to apologize and make it obvious and apparent to everyone that was his opinion.”

Joe Siano, Norman Public Schools Superintendent, released a statement blaming the teacher for their actions, but did not disclose what consequences the teacher will face, saying,  “Racism is an important topic that we discuss I our schools. While discussing a variety of philosophical perspectives on culture, race and ethics, a teacher was attempting to convey to students in an elective philosophy course a perspective that had been shared at a university lecture he had attended. We regret that the discussion was poorly handled. When the district was notified of this concern it was immediately addressed. We are committed to ensuring inclusiveness in our schools.”

Check out the news clip of the incident above.

Source: KTLA|PHOTOCREDIT: Getty