Florida Teacher Says She Has a Right to ‘Dislike Blacks’

Campbell, FL — Tracey Brown, a social studies teacher in Florida, is under investigation after being captured on video saying that she “has much right as anybody else to dislike Blacks” during an online class with her students.

Brown, who teaches at Poinciana High School, made racially charged comments in the midst of a heated argument with her students on October 12. She was teaching the class virtually about the Constitution when the topic shifted to racial justice in the US. She then spoke about her issue with the Black Lives Movement.

“You’re implying that Black lives are more important than anyone else, and I have a problem with that,” Brown responded to one student.

She then went on sharing her previous experience, saying, “I was 16 years old, and I was attacked on a MARTA train by a gang. And yes, [a] gang — wearing bandanas, gang sings, language — of Blacks. In Metro Atlanta.”

“I have as much right as anybody else to dislike Blacks for what happened to me,” she continued. “So, you don’t get to sit there and preach to me what I do and don’t know.”

Since the incident, Brown has been removed from her classroom and reassigned to a position where she doesn’t interact with children while an investigation is ongoing.

Moreover, Tamika Lyles, another teacher at the school who serves as the president of the Osceola County Democratic Black Caucus, said Brown’s comments are disturbing.

“This is a learning environment for our students, and we have to make sure we are able to maintain that learning environment for them and make sure it is one they can truly learn in and not one that we are inserting so much of our opinion in it ’til we tarnish the learning aspect,” Lyles told Spectrum News 13.

Meanwhile, a petition has also been started, calling for disciplinary action against Brown. Over 4,000 people have already signed the petition.