Teacher seen writing racial slur on classroom board is fired, GA officials say
A teacher at a Georgia high school was fired after a video showing him writing a racial slur on a classroom whiteboard went viral on social media, according to school district officials.
Adrianne Wyatt, a parent of a student at Walnut Grove High School in Loganville, where the incident happened, shared the video in an April 5 post on Facebook.
'This happened at my daughter's school,' Wyatt wrote in the post. 'It must be seen and know what's going on in these schools our kids go to when we rely on them teaching our kids.'
The teacher is seen in the video smiling as he fills in the last letter of the slur on a whiteboard after students yell it out. Once the word is complete, students can be heard cheering.
'This should never be brought up in a classroom, like ever,' Wyatt told WSB-TV.
A spokesperson for the Walton County School district told McClatchy News in an April 9 email that the teacher involved no longer works for the district.
'The behavior captured in the video does not reflect the values of Walnut Grove High School or the Walton County School District,' school officials wrote in a statement on their website.
The incident drew significant backlash from community members, including an online petition calling for a change in leadership. The petition, started by alumnus Brandon Walker, garnered nearly 300 signatures in less than a week.
Walker also shared a letter to district leaders on social media in which he said the teacher was 'encouraging students to engage with the word' during what looked like a 'classroom word game.'
He called the incident a 'clear violation' of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color and national origin in programs funded by the federal government.
'The use of this historically violent and dehumanizing slur in any educational setting is completely unacceptable, and its use by a teacher in front of students is inexcusable,' he said in the letter. 'The students of WGHS — particularly Black students — deserve to learn in an environment that respects their humanity and affirms their dignity.'
Loganville is about a 35-mile drive northeast from Atlanta.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
42 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Republicans Say They're Cool With Trump Deploying Troops Against Protesters
The U.S. secretary of defense has threatened to send active-duty Marines into the streets of Los Angeles to confront protesters opposing the administration's detention and deportation of immigrants. At least three prominent Republicans don't seem concerned about potential overreach. 'The [Department of Defense] is mobilizing the National Guard IMMEDIATELY to support federal law enforcement in Los Angeles. And, if violence continues, active duty Marines at Camp Pendleton will also be mobilized — they are on high alert,' Hegseth wrote late Saturday on X, formerly Twitter, on his personal account. This prompted ABC's Jonathan Karl to ask House Speaker Mike Johnson: 'Could we really see active duty Marines on the streets of Los Angeles?' 'One of our core principles is maintaining peace through strength,' Johnson said during an interview on Sunday's episode of This Week. 'We do that on foreign affairs and domestic affairs as well. I don't think that's heavy handed. I think that's an important signal.' 'You don't think sending Marines into the streets of an American city is heavy-handed?' Karl asked. 'We have to be prepared to do what is necessary, and I think the notice that that might happen might have the deterring effect,' Johnson said. Active-duty military troops have not been sent in to suppress unrest since the 1992 Los Angeles protests after a jury acquitted four white police officers in the beating of Rodney King, a Black man who was pulled over for a traffic violation. The Posse Comitatus Act prohibits federal troops from engaging in civilian law enforcement unless there is a clear legal or constitutional basis for doing so. It was created to restrict the president's ability to use the military against civilians. The exception to Posse Comitatus is the Insurrection Act, which Trump has not invoked. Instead, Trump invoked Title 10 of the U.S. Code on Armed Services, which limits the troops' actions to protecting federal officials rather than enforcing laws. Title 10 gives Trump authority to deploy the National Guard during 'a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States' and two other specific circumstances. Chris Mirasola of Lawfare wrote that Trump's justification for using this authority is 'factually contestable and, even on the face of the memorandum, unusually weak.' Republican Sen. James Lankford on NBC's Meet the Press argued that by deploying the National Guard, Trump is 'trying to deescalate all the tensions that are there.' Newsom has said that Trump activating National Guard troops is 'purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions' 'This is an American city, and to be able to have an American city where we have people literally flying Mexican flags and saying, 'You cannot arrest us,' cannot be allowed,' Lankford said on Sunday. 'If someone violates the law, no matter what state that they're in, they're in violation of a federal law. They should face consequences for that.' Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin also criticized protesters for carrying Mexican flags. 'They were literally out there protesting, carrying a foreign flag. That is absolutely insane. They are not just peaceful protesters. These are illegals,' he said Sunday on State of the Union. 'Carrying a flag is not illegal, as you know,' CNN's Dana Bash responded. 'Foreign flag while you're attacking law enforcement, it's pretty bad,' Mullin said. Carrying a Mexican flag and saying 'You cannot arrest us' is not a prosecutable offense. It is free speech protected by the First Amendment. And the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has been clear that anyone found destructing property will be arrested. 'Everyone has the right to peacefully assemble and voice their opinions,' LAPD posted on X. 'However, vandalizing property and attempting to seriously injure officers, whether Federal or LAPD, is not peaceful.' When Meet the Press host Kristen Welker pointed out to Lankford that 'Governor Newsom says there is no unmet law enforcement need. The LAPD says the protests were peaceful,' the senator claimed that it is 'clear' that the LAPD is 'being overwhelmed.' (LAPD has not said they are overwhelmed.) 'This wouldn't be an issue if California didn't promote sanctuary city policies to be able to tell people literally, 'You can violate federal law and live in our state, and no one will arrest you for this,'' Lankford said. 'Now suddenly when they are arrested for federal crimes then suddenly they go into this kind of protest saying, 'No, you can't arrest us here. We're immune from federal law.' That's not true.' Here, Lankford is being misleading. Sanctuary city policies do not grant anyone immunity, they only limit how state and local resources are allocated to aid federal immigration enforcement. Under the Tenth Amendment, states have the right to allocate resources as they see fit, and states have used that amendment in court to justify not assisting with federal immigration raids. It's disturbing that prominent GOP lawmakers are signing on to the president's use of authority to activate the National Guard — against a governor's wishes — and signaling their agreement that deploying active duty Marines against civilians would be fine with them should Trump choose to do so. 'Don't kid yourself they know they are absolutely getting cooked politically [with] their terrible bill and rising prices, and they want to create a violent spectacle to feed their content machine,' Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz posted on X late Saturday. 'It's time for the mainstream media to describe this authoritarian madness accurately.' More from Rolling Stone Trump's Response to L.A. Protests: What We Know The Biggest Boondoggles in Trump's Big Beautiful Bill Donald Trump Is Destroying the Economy and Waging War on the Poor Best of Rolling Stone The Useful Idiots New Guide to the Most Stoned Moments of the 2020 Presidential Campaign Anatomy of a Fake News Scandal The Radical Crusade of Mike Pence
Yahoo
42 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Fact Check: Doctored photo shows ICE agents arresting man wearing 'Latinos for Trump' T-shirt
Claim: A photo authentically shows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arresting a man wearing a "Latinos for Trump 2024" T-shirt. Rating: In June 2025, online users claimed a picture showed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arresting a man wearing a "Latinos for Trump 2024" T-shirt. On June 1, an X user posted (archived) the photo with a caption mocking the man's alleged vote of Trump, whose immigration policies supposedly led to his arrest. The user wrote, "Well that did not go well huh?" The post received over 500,000 views. (Image courtesy of @JamesTate121/X) Following that post, other users shared the same picture on Bluesky (archived), Facebook, iFunny (archived), Mastodon (archived), Threads and X (archived). However, an unknown user doctored the photo with the "Latinos for Trump 2024" logo. The same user altered the agents' uniforms to read "ICE," when the original picture showed "HSI" for Homeland Security Investigations. ICE and HSI both operate under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security. The Alamy and Getty Images websites both hosted the original, unedited photo for licensing. The genuine caption read, "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents arrested alleged immigration violators at Fresh Mark [in] Salem, [Ohio, on] June 19, 2018." The original picture confirmed no visible writing or logos appeared on the back of the detained man's T-shirt. ICE published the original photo (Image courtesy of Getty Images) As The Associated Press reported, based on its own survey of over 120,000 voters, Trump gained a larger share of both Black and Latino voters in 2024 than in the 2020 election, most notably among men under age 45. For further reading, Snopes compiled a collection of 20 fact checks involving U.S. immigration authorities. Brown, Matt, et al. "Young Black and Latino Men Say They Chose Trump Because of the Economy and Jobs. Here's How and Why." The Associated Press, 10 Nov. 2024, Catalini, Mike, and Rebecca Santana. "Just Days into the New Trump Administration, Worries Spike amid a Show of Force on Immigration." The Associated Press, 24 Jan. 2025, Chappell, Bill. "Homeland Security Secretary Orders ICE to Stop Mass Raids on Immigrants' Workplaces." Connecticut Public, 12 Oct. 2021, Santana, Rebecca. "Immigration Officers Are Operating with a New Sense of Mission. Now, 'Nobody Gets a Free Pass.'" The Associated Press, 28 Jan. 2025, "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agents Arrested Alleged Immigration Violators at Fresh Mark [in] Salem, [Ohio, on] June 19, 2018." Getty Images, ICE, 19 June 2018, Younge, Gary. "'They Want to Take Me Away': Immigrants under Attack as Trump Tries to Rally Republican Base." The Guardian, 23 Oct. 2018,
Yahoo
42 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Atlanta-area rapper sentenced for bringing stolen loaded ‘machine gun' into hospital labor unit
A 21-year-old Henry County man has learned his fate after he was convicted of bringing a stolen gun into the labor and delivery unit of a hospital. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Last Wednesday, a judge sentenced Terrell Monquez Searcy, 21, also known as rapper Quez 2RR, to serve 66 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. This was after the 21-year-old pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a machine gun in March, from the incident that occurred in August 2023. According to court documents, Searcy was arrested after security at Piedmont Walton Hospital found he had hidden a gun under a couch cushion inside a hospital room in the labor unit on Aug. 17, 2023. Investigators said Searcy handed over the Glock Model 17 9mm handgun with a loaded 30-round extended magazine to the security officers. TRENDING STORIES: Teen dead, 6 others injured after shooting in Troup County Porn shown in high school class in Henry County 2 accused of stealing vehicle left on I-75 'Hospital security noticed that a full-auto sear pin appeared to have been attached to the rear of the slide, making the firearm a machine gun, prompting the call by hospital security to police. Police ran the serial number on the firearm and found out it was reported stolen from Walton County, Georgia. Searcy was taken into custody,' investigators said in a news release. ATF agents ended up testing the gun and confirmed that it functioned as a machine gun. During the investigation into Searcy, investigators learned that he had showcased the converted pistol in his music videos posted to his YouTube page. 'In a music video titled 'Traffic,' Searcy rapped, 'I pop out a switch on the back of my Glock' and 'I put a switch on the back of my Glock, just to clean up the street when it's time for that action.' At one point in the video, Searcy's holding a pistol in his waistband with what appears to be a machine gun conversion device attached to the back,' investigators said. Searcy was ultimately indicted on charges of possessing a machine gun in August 2024. During the indictment process, 'agents located Instagram messages between Searcy and a female law enforcement officer with the Clayton County Police Department. Between January and March 2023, Searcy asked the police officer to run his information to see if there were any warrants for his arrest.' [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] Agents learned that the officer gave Searcy information about an active homicide investigation. During an interview with Clayton County police detectives, the officer admitted to giving Searcy the info, including information about active warrants for his arrest. On Feb. 11, 2025, ATF and several other agencies executed a search warrant on Search's home in McDonough. Searcy was there with two other men. During the search, they found several firearms. ATF agents ran tests on the firearms they collected that they had been used in other crimes in the area, including one that 'was used in a drive-by shooting in DeKalb County where four people, including two juveniles, were shot inside their homes.' 'Each shooting occurred within just days of Searcy receiving information from the Clayton County police officer on the active Clayton County homicide where his friend was shot and killed,' the news release said. 'Holding people found in possession of machine guns and with illegal conversion devices accountable for breaking federal law remains a top priority in the Middle District of Georgia,' said Acting U.S. Attorney C. Shanelle Booker.
