SPARTANBURG COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) – A Landrum High School teacher has been fired after a video began circulating on social media of him calling his students “trash Americans” and using a slur to describe them.
In the video, which began circulating on Facebook Wednesday afternoon, shows the teacher, who has not been identified by Spartanburg One, appearing to rant to his students over their grades and lack of patriotism.
“I don’t care if you say the pledge, you guys are a bunch of trash Americans anyway,” the teacher says in the video. “None of you even freaking care – none of you care about this country otherwise you would have some patriotism, but you freaking don’t.”
The teacher then refers to some of his students using a slur for mentally handicapped people and claims half of the class is failing.
Phillip McKelvey said his son is one of the students the teacher addresses in the video. As soon as he saw the video, McKelvey said he was upset to see a teacher talking to students in such a manner.
“Really, if I gotta be honest with you, the biggest thing that bothers me is if you want to express your opinion on God and prayer, that’s whatever. I think the kids at that grade level are old enough to accept that and deal with that. But to call them trash Americans and (slurs) – that’s unacceptable,” he said. “You can’t just throw terms like that out so loosely. I’m not okay with that. If the school district is OK with that, I don’t want my kid to be in the school district.”
In a statement to 7NEWS Wednesday night, Spartanburg School District One said it was aware of the video, and as soon as officials were made aware of it, the teacher was placed on administrative leave.
In an updated statement Thursday, the district said the teacher was no longer employed by the school.
“The teacher featured in the video circulating on social media is no longer employed with Spartanburg School District One,” the district said in their statement. “This decision aligns with our commitment to maintaining a safe and respectful environment for our students and staff. We acknowledge the concerns raised by this incident and extend our sincere apologies to our students, parents, and other staff members.”
“We would like to restate, that the conduct displayed in the video does not reflect the values and standards of our district,” the statement continued.
