Teacher is slammed for asking black students to pick cotton and place handcuffs in class

Rochester school officials are investigating allegations that a white teacher told his class of mostly black students to pick cottonseeds and put on handcuffs during lessons about slavery in a school classroom. seventh grade social studies.

“It made me feel bad to be a black person,” college student Jahmiere O’Neal told the media.

The teacher, Patrick Rausch, has been placed on leave while the school system investigates the allegations. They came to light after a dismayed parent posted on Facebook that his daughter faced the cotton picking lesson on Tuesday.

“He made fun of slavery,” the mother, Precious Tross, also known as Precious Morris, later said.

“I have no problem with you teaching our children about slavery and what our ancestors went through and how they had to pick cotton,” she said. “Our teachers at the time told us, but they don’t bring cotton and make you pick cottonseed from cotton.”

Teachers’ union president Adam Urbanski told WXXI-AM that ‘if anyone deviates from what they should be doing, they should suffer the consequences, but due process must be allowed first. “.

A cotton ball that Precious Tross said her daughter, Ja’Nasia Brown, and other black kids in her class were chosen for in a social studies class at the School of the Arts in Rochester

Patrick Rausch is the social science professor who has been accused of alleged racist behavior.  He has been placed on leave pending the conclusion of the investigation into the incidents

Patrick Rausch is the social science professor who has been accused of alleged racist behavior. He has been placed on leave pending the conclusion of the investigation into the incidents

The teacher reportedly asked his black students last year to handcuff each other before telling them: “It's okay;  neither could your ancestors”, when the students were unable to remove their hands from them

The teacher reportedly asked his black students last year to handcuff each other before telling them: “It’s okay; neither could your ancestors”, when the students were unable to remove their hands from them

Tross and Vialma Ramos-O’Neal, who is Jahmiere’s mother, said Rausch let white children refuse to participate in cotton picking while not letting colored children opt out. She added that the teacher also used slurs when mentioning her son’s intellectual disability.

“I have always fought for Jahmiere to be included in everything his peers are, and this man degraded him, insulted him and made him not want to be black,” Ramos added. ‘I was shocked.’

“I immediately said, ‘Oh, I’m not doing that,'” Morris’ daughter, Ja’Nasia Brown, said. “And then he said to me, ‘Do it. It’s for a good grade.”‘

On another occasion, the teacher brought handcuffs and shackles, according to the students. Tross said when his daughter hesitated to put them on, the teacher threatened to send her to the principal’s office or the school counselor.

‘OH HELL NO PARENT ASK YO KIDS DID TEACHER ASK THEM TO PUT UP IN CHAINS AND HANDCUFFS A PARENT WRITTEN TO ME N SAID HER SON TOLD HER SHE TOLD ME TO ASK MY DAUGHTER N MY DAUGHTER JUST TOLD ME THE REST AND HOW THE HANDCUFFS WERE HEAVY N METAL N INJURED HIS ARM HE F***** WITH THE BAD CHILD,’ she later shared on Facebook.

When the students couldn’t free themselves, Rausch reportedly told them, “It’s okay; neither did your ancestors. It would also have called itself “massah” – the word for “master” used in depicting black speech in the South, particularly during the slavery era – and would have allowed white students in classes to stop when they complained, but not to black students.

Precious Brown

The student parent shared in his account of Rausch that white students were not required to participate in the activities of the teacher

Precious Brown, along with the mother of another student, shared what her daughter Ja’Nasia Brown told her about seventh grade in a series of Facebook posts

Vialma Ramos, the mother of another student in Rausch's class, said her son, Jahmiere, also shared what happened in class over the past year.

Vialma Ramos, the mother of another student in Rausch’s class, said her son, Jahmiere, also shared what happened in class over the past year.

Ramos (left) and his son Jahmiere, who was teased by his seventh-grade teacher for his intellectual disability

Ramos (left) and his son Jahmiere, who was teased by his seventh-grade teacher for his intellectual disability

Rausch is at risk of being fired as a result of his actions and his teaching license may soon be revoked

Rausch is at risk of being fired as a result of his actions and his teaching license may soon be revoked

Class parents are now calling for the teacher to be fired and his teaching license revoked.

School principal Kelly Nicastro told parents in a letter that headteachers “take these allegations very seriously”, and a statement from the school board called them “extremely troubling”.

“In a black and brown student district, it’s important to be sensitive to the historical setting in which our students engage and learn,” said council president Cynthia Elliott. About half of the students at the School of Arts are black.

The school and district are also interviewing students as part of the survey.

‘In a neighborhood of [B]miss and brown students, it is important to be sensitive to the historical setting in which our students engage and learn,’ Board of Education Chair Cynthia Elliott said in a statement.

Rochester School Of The Arts, where the incidents took place over the past year

Rochester School Of The Arts, where the incidents took place over the past year


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