A teacher has been fired after wearing a face mask that read ‘Black Lives Matter’ and ‘Silence is Violence’ during in-person working days.
As Texas-based Lillian White, who worked at a San Antonio public charter school called Great Hearts Western Hills, revealed, she wanted to wear a BLM-inspired face mask in support of her Black colleagues and students.
According to CNN, the headmaster of the school told the teacher she should wear a different type of mask on school grounds because they “don’t discuss the current political climate on campus.”
As White insisted, however, students were not yet present at the campus at the time and she refused to back down because of an on-going “human rights issue.”
“This is a human rights issue and I did it for my students who experience racial injustice in school. I refused to back down,” the teacher said in an interview with CNN.
“If you’re scared about what parents are going to say because a teacher is supporting equal rights, you need to reevaluate the kind of people you’re catering to. By staying silent, Great Hearts is only supporting racist parents.”
After attempting to convince school officials it was okay for her to wear her face mask and just days before students were set to return on campus, White got fired.
As Superintendent Daniel Scoggin insisted, the school stands with “all who are suffering” and “deplores bigotry.” However, their policy reportedly bans faculty staff from exhibiting external messages on their face coverings.
“We stand with the Black community and all who are suffering. Great Hearts deplores bigotry and its crushing effects on all those subjected to it,” the Great Hearts Texas superintendent said.
“Great Hearts is committed to an America where racism, violence, and injustice do not happen, because such acts find no home in the hearts of a great people.”
Following White’s termination, the art teacher has launched a petition that calls for anti-racism action plans to be implemented at the charter school. As of this writing, the petition has been signed by nearly 3,500 people.
Replaced!