WHAT’S RACIST TODAY: Telling Students to Follow Directions
Virginia public school teacher Josh Thompson characterized efforts to enforce classroom discipline as “the definition of white supremacy” in a recent TikTok video.
THE FOOTAGE
Thompson, who teaches in Blacksburg, called the suite of techniques used to encourage appropriate classroom behavior in Montgomery County schools — “Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports” or PBIS — “white supremacy with a hug” in the now-deleted video.
Teacher claims that encouraging students to behave is white supremacy pic.twitter.com/DCBdcuMitg
— Libs of Tik Tok (@libsoftiktok) September 13, 2021
Thompson took issue with PBIS’ encouragement of following directions and sitting quietly.
- Money quote: “The idea of just sitting quiet and being told stuff and taking things in in a passive stance, is not a thing that’s in many cultures,” Thompson said. “So if we’re positively enforcing these behaviors, we are by extension positively enforcing elements of white culture.”
THE AFTERMATH
While the Montgomery County School District defended PBIS, it also backed Thompson amid a public outcry.
- “A teacher is entitled to their personal belief regarding any division program,” it said in a statement to Fox News.