After being investigated for using a racial slur in front of students, 48-year-old math teacher David Swinyar will keep his job.
If you've watched FX's Atlanta, you're aware of "Florida Man." Perhaps we need to look over our shoulders for this Florida teacher, as well. According to HuffPost, Swinyar, employed at Kernan Middle School in Duval County, has also been accused of belittling students, confronting them in a “physically aggressive manner” and yelling at them. These student accusations sparked an investigation by the Duval County School District that resulted in a 10-day unpaid suspension.
A Florida teacher has been suspended after his school district concluded he repeatedly used the N-word in class.
He told his 7th and 8th graders not to date African-Americans "because they are not worth it". pic.twitter.com/TN0ebLwSpq
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) March 9, 2018
The racial slur incident occurred in October when Swinyar had a conversation with students about the word “f**k” after he overheard it in his classroom. He reprimanded the students but added his own racist twist to the conversation.
“If my daughter was dating someone who used the ‘f’ word, I wouldn’t have any respect for that n****r,” Swinyar said, according to the Duval County School District's report.
“If your boyfriend says bad things to you and/or treats you wrong, that means that he’s acting like a n****r,” he allegedly continued. “You all should not be dating all these different African Americans [sic] boys because they are not worth it.”
Photo: Giphy
His 24 students were all witnesses to the incident, and black students called out his behavior. However, Swinyar claims he doesn't remember saying this.
“I never said that, but if I did, I am sorry,” he allegedly told students.
Instead of saying he has "black friends," Swinyar pulled black Jesus into the mix and said he attends a black church as justification for his use of the N-word. According to students, he then went on to mock black teachers and reportedly "loves to talk about politics and Donald Trump."
Swinyar is also accused of making female students uncomfortable by staring at their breasts and other parts and erratic behavior toward students. After a student tried calling his mother about the October incident, Swinyar reportedly lost it.
“Mr. Swinyar yelled at the student and called the student a liar,” the school’s office assistant told investigators. “He also snatched the phone away from the student.”
The school district says the suspension is its way of taking this incident seriously as they "skipped" the customary steps of issuing the teacher verbal and written reprimands. However, if the severity of such actions were understood, termination should have been the logical punishment, particularly since this isn't the first time Swinyar has been accused of racism.
The devil is working hard, but whiteness is working harder.
