Middle school teacher referred to Black colleague as 'the monkey next door' and had class pick cotton: student
A middle school teacher in Dorchester County, South Carolina is being investigated by administrators after allegedly making racist remarks about a colleague in front of students.
Local news station WPDE reports that Shanda Wiggins, the parent of a student at the Oakbrook Middle School, said that he 8th-grade son was upset when his teacher allegedly referred to Black teacher in a neighboring classroom as "the monkey next door."
And this wasn't the only racially charged incident this teacher was involved in, as Wiggins says that she "had also asked the class to participate in a cotton picking activity where she brought in raw cotton for the class."
In a meeting with administrators and the teacher in question, the teacher admitted to referring to her Black colleague as "the monkey next door" but insisted she meant it in an affectionate manner and not in a racist way.
"I guess she feels that because that's her friend she can talk that way," Wiggins tells WPDE. "The assistant principal, she said that sometimes kids don't understand adult to adult conversation... But when you're speaking with a classroom full of children, referencing the teacher that way -- that's wrong. Yeah, I was shocked when she said it."
The school says it is investigating the incident and is not commenting on it at this time.