A white New York school teacher allegedly accused of putting up a racially offensive image in a classroom claims she was a victim of racial discrimination herself.
In 2019 an image circulated of a collage displayed in a classroom at Roosevelt Middle School in New York that sparked outrage among the community and school district officials.
The photo, part of a larger classroom display of teachers and students, showed a pair of nooses under a caption that said “back to school necklaces,” alongside the words, “Ha Ha,” “#YES” and a smiley face.
The school district blamed an “isolated group of teachers” for the collage and said “appropriate action” had been taken, according to The Daily Beast.
Years after the incident, Nancy Jones Doering filed a lawsuit against the school district, revealing herself as one of the teachers accused.
Article says: “Ms Jones Doering claimed in the lawsuit that she never created, displayed or assisted anyone in putting up “any racist collage.”…“[The] Defendants were very much aware of that since they knew who created the collage and who displayed it, but yet maliciously and intentionally publically made false statements about Plaintiff,” the suit stated.”
She says it wasn’t even in her classroom and she took it down as she also considered it offensive and put it in a locked cabinet when she went into the other classroom to drop off a lesson plan.
Article also says: “In October 2022, Ms Jones Doering was exonerated by a Hearing Officer who ordered her to be reinstated…”
I don’t think the racist nature of the display is at issue here. She says her only involvement was to take the thing down and act as union rep for another teacher. Later, she was exonerated. Based on her version of events, coupled with that exoneration it does feel like she’s been unfairly lumped in with the other teachers here.