Florida teacher says he quit after the staff removed photos of Black leaders

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August 11, 2022

By Minyvonne Burke, NBC News

The teacher at O.J. Semmes Elementary School said he posted images depicting Martin Luther King, Jr., Harriet Tubman, George Washington Carver and Colin Powell.

O.J. Semmes Elementary School in Pensacola, Fla. (Google Maps)

A Florida elementary school teacher said he quit his job after another staff member removed his pictures depicting African American leaders.

Michael James, who taught at O.J. Semmes Elementary School in Pensacola, said he had posted images on a bulletin board depicting civil rights icons Martin Luther King Jr. and Harriet Tubman, scientist George Washington Carver and former Secretary of State Colin Powell.

He told the Pensacola News Journal that he wanted to display the images so the students, a majority of whom are Black, could see someone they could relate to.

[…]

“I’ve been teaching special education for 15 years, and it just really floored me when she did that,” he told the newspaper.

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