Texas teacher 'no longer employed' after alleged 'inappropriate' conversation on race
A teacher at a Pflugerville ISD middle school is "no longer employed" after cellphone video captured what administrators characterize as an "inappropriate" conversation between him and his students, the district told ABC News.
The district said it is “actively looking for a replacement” on Monday after being made aware of the conversation on Friday.
In the video that went viral on social media, a white Bohls Middle School teacher can be heard saying: "Deep down in my heart, I'm ethnocentric, which means I think my race is the superior one."
An uproar among students in the room can be heard -- several of whom are students of color -- followed by the teacher asking them to "Let me finish."
He continued, "I think everybody thinks that, they’re just not honest about it."
Students then continued to press the teacher about whether he was racist, to which he responds, "I think everybody’s a racist at that level."
It remains unclear how the conversation began.
According to Superintendent Douglas Killian, students alerted administrators about the incident.
"We always do our best to ensure the safety of all students; we encourage them to be self-advocates and let an adult know when something is wrong, as they did in this situation," he said in a statement to ABC News.
He went on, "The advisory discussion was inappropriate, inaccurate, and unacceptable; and this type of interaction will not be tolerated in any PfISD schools … We apologize to our students and families at Bohls Middle School for the undue stress or concern this has caused."
The teacher has not yet been publicly identified by school officials.
