An Ohio teacher has been suspended by high school officials for making racist remarks at a black student.
During a class discussion earlier this month, the Fairfield Freshman School teacher racially attacked a student after he expressed his ambitions to become president of the United States. The teacher, Gil Voigt, responded saying the country "doesn't need another black president."
Following this incident, the Fairfield board of education suspended Voigt without pay, this week, the Associated Press reported.
Dan Murray, board president, said that the suspension is the first step in the termination process, The Hamilton-Middletown Journal-News reported.
"He was talking to some students and said some things that were racially insensitive. We take diversity in our school district very seriously with tolerance of people who are different. We just felt this teacher had crossed the line," Murray said.
However, racially attacking students is not new to Voigt, according to Superintendent Paul Otten. He told the Journal-News that the teacher was previously warned about racist remarks. The authorities at the school maintained that Voigt received a verbal warning in 2008 for a racial comment and last month got a written warning as he failed to follow the school curriculum.
But, Voigt, who taught at Fairfield since 2000, has his version. He told the school officials that he was misquoted. The teacher now has 10 days to appeal the decision after he is formally notified to appeal before the school board.
Racial slur and bullying is a major problem in Universities as well. More recently, three California University students were accused of taunting their black roommate with references of 'slavery', reports Reuters.
The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education has an account of several such incidents occurring on university campuses.
