A middle school teacher in Pflugerville, Texas, has been fired after a viral video posted to social media showed the teacher, who is white, tell his Black and Latino students that his race “is the superior one.”
In the video, the teacher can be seen saying to his multi-racial class, “Deep down in my heart, I’m ethnocentric, which means I think my race is the superior one,” as students audibly react both on- and off-camera.
“I think everybody thinks that,” the teacher insists. “They’re just not honest about it.”
After some other discussion in the video, one student asks, “You said you are a racist, right?”
“I did, yeah, I’m trying to be honest,” the teacher replies.
After the video went viral, school administrators released a statement announcing the decision to terminate the teacher’s employment, saying:
“Last Friday, Nov. 11, Pflugerville ISD officials were made aware of an inappropriate conversation a teacher at Bohls Middle School had with students during an advisory class,” Pflugerville Independent School District (PfISD) Superintendent Dr. Douglas Killian wrote in a statement. “As of Monday morning, Nov. 14, the teacher in question is no longer employed by Pflugerville ISD and we are actively looking for a replacement.”
The teacher in question has not been identified by PfISD, nor has the district provided any additional context surrounding the conversation.
“We want to reiterate that this conversation does not align with our core beliefs and is not a reflection of our district or our culture at Bohls Middle School,” the school said in his statement. “The advisory discussion was inappropriate, inaccurate, and unacceptable; and this type of interaction will not be tolerated in any PfISD schools.”
The superintendent went on to apologize to students and families for any “undue stress or concern” caused by the comments.
A teacher in Texas is on administrative leave after telling students “deep down in my heart, I am ethnocentric, which means I think my race is the superior one”https://t.co/gBPu96uYB4 pic.twitter.com/FLXgEwVsXk
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) November 13, 2022
