White New York City Teacher Fired for Making Black Teens Play Slaves Will Sue for $1 Billion

bronx school new york city
Middle School 118 in the Bronx, New York City, where Patricia Cummings taught social studies. She was fired over an incident relating to a slavery lesson. Google Street View

A white teacher at a New York City public school who was fired after making black students play the role of slaves during a classroom exercise reportedly plans to build a class-action case with other teachers in a $1 billion lawsuit.

Patricia Cummings taught social studies at Middle School 118 in the Bronx until February last year, when she was forced out over complaints about a lesson in which she allegedly chose black students to be slaves and walked over their backs.

Read more: A black teacher says she was asked to translate "slave talk" and was told food at her school was for "whites only"

The 37-year-old, who faced a backlash in the media over the incident, insists she was acting in good faith during a lesson about the realities of slavery, and is not a racist.

After initially assigning her to another school, the city's Department of Education fired her in October at the conclusion of an investigation.

"I have no career at this point," Cummings said at a press conference with her lawyer Thomas Liotti, the New York Post reported. She is added she is now unemployable because of the saga and will file a civil lawsuit against multiple plaintiffs, including New York Mayor Bill de Blasio.

She told WABC that there is no proof she pressed down on the back of a student and investigators found the allegation to be "unsubstantiated." Moreover, she told the Post a black colleague who witnessed the lesson took no issue with it.

Cummings and her lawyer claim she faced discrimination in how the incident was handled by the education authority and others because she is white. They believe she is not the only teacher to face such discrimination.

According to PIX11, Cummings has already filed a complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Doug Cohen, a spokesman for the city's Department for Education, told the Post Cummings was "terminated based on a thorough investigation and a review of her performance as an educator. We'll review the complaint."

"They're on the record for saying the reason I'm being terminated is because of my performance as an educator and the report," Cummings told WABC. "My performance as an educator, I've been rated effective by the Department of Education. I'm an effective teacher."

Among those set to be named in the lawsuit is the New York Daily News for its coverage of events and the black radio host Charlamagne tha God.

Cummings told PIX11 Charlamagne "talked about how I am a racist, how I am a 'cracker-ass cracker,' how he would like to 'slap fire out of the racist bigot' that I am."

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About the writer


Shane Croucher is a Senior Editor based in London, UK. He oversees the My Turn team. He has previously overseen ... Read more

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