A sixth-grade teacher in Florida is coming under fire after he posted video showing white students bowing down to black students during a Black History Month skit.
Parents and families of children at Howard High School in Orlando are now expressing outrage that the teacher uses students for ‘political props.’
In the controversial video posted to TikTok, Ethan Hooper’s students admire and feed three black classmates before bowing to them in the skit.
The video is shot with the words ‘POV A Florida Classroom’ and ‘Black History Month, Shortest Month of the Year’.
Local media have reported that administrators have placed Hooper on leave and he is likely to be ‘fired’.
A sixth-grade teacher in Florida is coming under fire after he posted video showing white students bowing down to black students during a Black History Month skit.
This is Ethan Hooper, the high school teacher facing backlash for posting a video of his students performing a Black History Month skit.
However, the teacher’s Black History Month video isn’t the first to spark outrage online.
Another video posted by the educator shows his students mocking the ‘Stop WOKE Act’ passed in Florida in 2022.
The bill was signed into law by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and seeks to stop any “woke” books or materials in classrooms across the Sunshine State.
In that video, Hooper walks around the room stealing books like ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘The Hate U Give’, joking that the books preach witchcraft and black history.
In the Black History Month video, the students appear to be laughing and ‘in on the joke’ that got the teacher suspended, but the parents still expressed their displeasure.
The families have said Hooper used the boys, ages 11 and 12, for “political props.”
“If one of the teachers was using my son for political gain, that would upset me,” Howard Middle School parent CJ Johnson said. Click Orlando.
“What if I don’t believe in that and, you know, that’s not what I’m teaching my son?” Jonson continued.
In the Black History Month video, students appear to be laughing and ‘in on the joke’ that led to the teacher’s suspension, but parents still expressed their displeasure.
Students are seen feeding their black classmates in the video posted to TikTok.
At the end of the video, classmates are seen bowing to their black peers in honor of Black History Month.
This is Howard High School in Orlando, Florida, where the video was filmed.
Another video posted by the educator shows his students mocking the ‘Stop WOKE Act’ passed in Florida in 2022.
In that video, Hooper walks around the room stealing books like ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘The Hate U Give’, joking that the books preach witchcraft and black history.
Backlash to the video gained steam after Libs of TikTok shared both the Black History Month TikTok and ‘Stop WOKE Act’ video.
Now he has to lose his job. You can take your problems to the adults in the system. Instead, he used the children he is supposed to take care of on a personal social media account,” said a critic of the video.
‘I wonder if his activism is part of the curriculum? I’m going to take a chance and guess, no,” another person added.
“This is terribly racist, sad and pathetic,” said one Twitter user.
Some online said that while they don’t entirely disagree with the video, the situation itself is puzzling.
“What is a teacher doing on social media during school hours, let alone posting the identities of their students?” asked one Twitter user.
Following the backlash, Orange County Public Schools Superintendent Maria Vazquez said she is looking into the situation and expressed her own outrage over the “inappropriate” videos.
“I am shocked by the behavior and judgment of the teacher who posted the inappropriate videos using his students as political props,” Vázquez said.
“This is not free speech, this is the exploitation of our students for political purposes and it will not be tolerated in our school district,” the superintendent continued.
students who spoke to WESH they said they disagreed with the superintendent’s statement and said they had done nothing wrong.
“We all agreed,” said Jaida Jackson, a white student, who appeared in one of the videos. “He (Hooper) didn’t really do anything wrong.”
“What is a teacher doing on social media during school hours, let alone posting the identities of their students?” asked one Twitter user.
The reaction to the video gained steam after Libs of TikTok shared the videos of the teachers
A person on the social media app applauded Hooper’s video.
Some parents agree that the teacher’s actions were justified.
‘The fact that the students actually designed the content specifically means it’s something they care about. And to say they were used as pawns is false,” said Jackson’s mother, Shauna Thompson.
Despite the support, Orange County Public Schools Media Manager Michael Ollendorf said the teacher’s fate could be sealed.
“Any employee who creates videos or other content with students in an effort to exploit them for political purposes will be immediately removed from the classroom, placed on administrative leave, and prompt action will be taken to terminate employment,” Ollendorf said in a statement. statement.