A high school teacher in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, is under fire for belittling one of his students by calling Haiti a "third world island country," according to a video that's surfaced online.
In a video posted to YouTube by Circa News, the teacher can be heard lecturing a student on how to use a door while suggesting there are no doors within the entire country of Haiti.
"It's called a door, and let me show you how it works," the teacher said in the video. "Now, I don't know where it works where you're from, down in some third-world island country where they don't got them." He added, "Let me show you what it's like in America. You see that door handle?"
Haitian community members and activists have since rallied outside the Palm Beach Gardens Community High School to protest the racist remarks, The Orlando Sentinel reported.
James Leger, a local community leader who organized the protest on Friday, May 11, told The Sentinel that the student's family has reportedly received an apology from the school, but that that wasn't enough.
"We want to make sure all kids [are] equally treated at this school,” he said. “No matter race, no matter color, no matter where you are from, you should be treated the same, and that is why we have rules for teachers.”
According to WPTV, the school district has since confirmed the teacher has been removed from the classroom pending the outcome of an investigation. The family of the student reportedly told WPTV that they went to the school to address the incident, but no action was taken until they posted the video online. The school's principal, Larry Clawson, called parents to say the incident was being "addressed by professional standards" last Thursday, WPTV reported.
The School District of Palm Beach County under which Palm Beach Gardens Community High School operates has not immediately returned Blavity's request for comment.