FCPS Investigating Alleged Racial Remarks by Marshall Teacher

Fairfax County Public Schools officials are investigating allegations from a that a teacher used a racial remark toward him during a class this month.

Jordan Shumate, a freshman at the school, alleged that Marilyn Bart directed him to read a poem “blacker,” according to a Washington Post story. Shumate, an African American, was reading a poem by Langston Hughes when Bart allegedly directed him to read the poem blacker and then allegedly said “I thought you were black,” according to the Washington Post. He told his mother about the allegation this week.

Principal Jay Pearson said the school is taking the allegations seriously and confirmed the ongoing investigation, according to the Washington Post.

Shumate alleged when he stopped reading the poem, Bart continued and read it using a stereotypical voice of a slave, according to the Washington Post.

When Shumate allegedly asked Bart if she thought all black people spoke that way, he was reprimanded for speaking out of turn and told to sit down, according to the Washington Post.

Bart has been an FCPS teacher since 1990.