Fairfax investigates allegation of racially insensitive behavior by high school teacher - The Washington Post: Fairfax County school administrators are investigating a student’s allegations of racially insensitive behavior by a veteran English teacher at George C. Marshall High School.
Ninth-grader Jordan Shumate said that during class this month, he was reading aloud a poem by acclaimed African American writer Langston Hughes when his teacher interrupted and directed him to read in a “blacker” style.
“She told me, ‘Blacker, Jordan — c’mon, blacker. I thought you were black,’ ” said Shumate, who is African American.
Shumate told his mother, Nicole Cober Page, about the incident Tuesday. She complained to school administrators.
“We take these allegations very seriously, and we’re investigating,” Principal Jay Pearson said Friday. He declined to provide further details.
Shumate, 14, and his mother identified the teacher as Marilyn Bart. Bart did not respond Thursday or Friday to e-mail and phone inquiries about the incident. Records show that Bart has worked in Fairfax schools since 1990.
