Pastor Arthur Mackey/Facebook
A white Long Island, New York public school teacher accused of displaying a racially offensive image in her classroom, causing a national uproar and prompting calls for the firing of anyone involved, says she was cleared of all wrongdoing—but claims vengeful Black colleagues and school district officials have nevertheless continued to persecute her “because of her race.”
The photo, which was part of a larger display featuring teachers and students, showed a pair of hangman’s nooses under a caption reading, “back to school necklaces.” The image also featured the words “Ha Ha” and “#YES,” as well as a pink smiley face. The school district blamed the collage on an “isolated group of teachers,” and said “appropriate action” had been taken.
“A clear message needs to be sent that there is simply no place in our schools and in our society for this type of racist, hateful and insensitive imagery,” Hempstead Town Supervisor Laura Gillen said in a statement following the incident. Former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton weighed in on social media, calling the pictures “racist and sickening.” Pastor Arthur Mackey Jr. of nearby Mount Sinai Baptist Church was sent a photo of the collage. And while the suicide component to the images was itself objectionable, as Mackey told CBS News at the time, the noose images were “pure, outright, discrimination whether they realize it or not.”