Nelwyn Fontana: Louisiana high school secy forced to quit after referring to MLK Day by N-word in racist text
MONROE, LOUISIANA: A junior high school secretary in Louisiana was forced to quit her job after she made racist comments about Martin Luther King Jr. Day (MLK) in a text conversation with a colleague, calling it a "n***** day." The principal of Ouachita Parish Junior High School addressed these racist remarks and explained that the hite secretary was asked to quit her job s soon as the incident came to light.
Walter Geno McLaughlin, who describes himself as an artist, activist, and organizer, shared a video on Facebook on Monday, January 16. The video showed an image of a former Ouachita Parish high school member Nelwyn Fontana alongside a screenshot of her alleged texts. These texts were sent to a person named 'coach' and Fontana could be seen calling MLK day, which celebrates the Civil Rights activist who protested racial discrimination, "n***** day" and also refers to Luther King Jr. as "Mark." McLaughlin writes in his Facebook post, "What she didn’t realize is that she accidentally sent her hate filled message to the wrong person."
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Who is Nelwyn Fontana?
Since the news broke out, Nelwyn Poland Fontana has deactivated her Facebook account. Fontana hails from Crowville, Louisiana, and her deactived account suggests that she went to 'Ward III High School'. From the information that is provided, she is Ouachita Parish Junior High School secretary. In the string of text messages, Fontana types, "N***** day lol mark Luther king." No other information is currently available about Fontana. She was later hired from her job by the principal.
What was the Ouachita Parish Jr. High School's response?
The school addressed the text messages and confirmed that they were, in fact, real. Principal Darren Wheeler of the Ouachita Parish Junior High School tells WKRG, "Unfortunately, on Friday evening, a text message which contained a racial slur from an employee was brought to our attention. That employee is no longer employed by the Ouachita Parish School System. We do not condone any form of racism in our schools and community. Thank you for your time, and enjoy the rest of your day."
Community shocked after racist comments from Louisiana school secretary
One user commented on the post saying, "Anybody actually from Ouachita.. and grew up in that system.. we're not shocked… lol.. we grew up in that sh*t" Another person said, "Sickening woman and school board" One more person wrote, "One of my friends posted this and I thought it was a joke...a sick, terrible joke but a joke nonetheless. While I'm not a proponent of "cancel culture," I cannot honestly see how the taxpayers of Ouachita Parish can be expected to continue to pay her salary. I attended OJHS back in the day, and Black students are a significant part of the student population. I wouldn't trust her in that position with the power she has...or rather, had."
One more person wrote, "Not firing her means she gets her benefits, which comes from taxpayers. This should continue to be protested to see who she was communicating with and if they are in the school district as well. We need to come together and protect our babies from people like her. Don't let her forget it" Another person said, "Ridiculous! Taxpayers continue to pay her for her blatant and outright disrespect. We still say, "We Shall Overcome" in 2023! because of crap like this! No way should she have been allowed to resign!" One more person wrote, "She needed to be fired!! Allowing her to resign also allows her to get her retirement."
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