It made me mad, says pupil after his teacher’s ‘my race is superior’ video goes viral

Karmello Luellen, 13, felt that the teacher’s comments were directed at him and other black pupils in the class. Picture: IOL

Karmello Luellen, 13, felt that the teacher’s comments were directed at him and other black pupils in the class. Picture: IOL

Published Nov 17, 2022

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Janae Hardy is angry, and rightly so.

Last week her son, Karmello Luellen, 13, was subjected to his teacher telling the class that “deep down in my heart, I’m ethnocentric, which means I think my race is the superior one”.

The unknown teacher was being recorded while delivering his speech in a classroom of primary school pupils of different races.

The video soon went viral, resulting in Bohls Middle School in Pflugerville, Texas, having to release a statement, saying the educator was no longer employed by the school district.

But the damage had already been done.

For Karmello, it was the final nail in the coffin after his teacher’s admission that he was racist. He felt that the teacher’s comments were directed at him and other black pupils in the class.

“It made me mad,” he told NBC News. “I respected him, but I don’t have respect for him anymore.”

Karmello also told the news outlet that he had endured discriminatory treatment in class, such as the teacher not letting black pupils go to the toilet as often as white ones.

Speaking about her son’s experience, Hardy said: “I don’t want him teaching any other students. I feel like he’s going to be racially profiling them, and that affects their education.”

The initial video that went viral was one of four.

Karmello also shared one of the other videos on his Instagram page, saying, “crazy this happened at my school to me and my friends”.

In the meantime, Tamra Spence, a spokesperson for the school district, told NBC News the teacher resigned amid an investigation into the incident.