Who is Patrick Rausch? NY teacher under fire for asking Black students to pick cotton, wear shackles
A White teacher at a school in Rochester, New York, has been accused of telling his class comprising mostly Black students to pick seeds out of cotton and put them on handcuffs during lessons on slavery. Patrick Rausch was teaching in a seventh-grade social studies class. "It made me feel bad to be a black person," student Jahmiere O'Neal, of The School of the Arts, said.
Rausch has been put on leave while the school officials are investigating the incident. The allegations came to light after a parent opened up on social media about her daughter being put through the ordeal. The parent, Precious Tross, wrote on Facebook, "MY DAUGHTER SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHER GRADE 7TH GRADE COUNT YO DAYS HOW THE HELL U MAKE MY BABY LEARN HOW TO PICK COTTON SEEDS OUT OF THE COTTON."
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The mother, who also goes by Precious Morris, later told media outlets, "He made a mockery out of slavery." "I don't have a problem with you teaching our kids about slavery and what our ancestors went through and how they had to pick cotton," she added. "Our teachers back in the day told us that, but they don't bring in cotton and make you pick cotton seeds out of cotton."
Teachers union President Adam Urbanski was quoted as saying that "if someone departs from what they should be doing, they should suffer the consequences, but due process has to be allowed first." Vialma Ramos-O'Neal, who is Jahmiere's mother, alleged that Rausch allowed White students to refuse to take part in the activity. Vialma also said that the teacher often used slurs while mentioning her son's developmental disability.
"'I have fought all along for Jahmiere to be included in everything his peers are, and this man degraded him, insulted him, and made him not want to be black," she said. "I was in shock." Morris' daughter, Ja'Nasia Brown, said, "I immediately was like, "Oh, I'm not doing that." And then he was like, "Do it. It's for a good grade.""
Not much is known about Rausch except that he is a social sciences teacher at the school. Rausch has also been accused of bringing handcuffs and shackles to class on another occasion. Tross said that when her daughter refused to put them on, he threatened to send her to the principal's office or the school counselor. Reportedly, when the students were not able to unshackle themselves, Rausch said, "It's OK, your ancestors couldn't either." He also called himself 'massah', which means 'master' — a word used in the representation of Southern Black speech, particularly in the era of slavery. Parents have called for Rausch's firing. They also want their teaching license to be revoked.
In a letter, the school's principal, Kelly Nicastro, told parents that school leaders "we take these allegations very seriously". A statement from the school board called the allegations "extremely troubling." Students are also being interviewed by the Arts school and the district as part of the investigation. "In a District of [B]lack and brown students, it is important to be sensitive of the historical framework by which our students are engaging and learning," Board of Education President Cynthia Elliott said in a statement.
