Black student erases ‘all lives matter’ from substitute teacher’s whiteboard, students walk out

A teacher lost it after an African-American student erased "All Lives Matter" from the whiteboard before walking out of class. The woman, who was a substitute teacher, was clearly miffed when she walked into the classroom and saw a classroom sign that read "Black Lives Matter." She then proceeded to write 'All Lives Matter' on the whiteboard. The students were shocked to see the teacher write 'All lives matter,' despite Black people being disproportionately being targeted by the system. It is not just an opinion but backed by actual stats. "Black people are more than three times as likely as white people to be killed during a police encounter," revealed a study by Harvard. 

The slogan 'All Lives Matter' has often been used by far-right media and conservatives to target the Black Lives Matter movement. The students voiced their protest as soon as the teacher wrote the phrase on the whiteboard. A video of the incident was posted on Reddit where it has gone viral. At the start of the video, a student can be seen questioning the teacher. “Oh, ‘white lives matter?’ Nothing has happened to them, nothing bad has happened to them.”

“Nothing bad has happened to a white person, ever?” responds the teacher, ignoring the fact that the movement is based on systemic racism. The student responds, "We’re not talking about that. I’m just saying straight up — were you a slave?” The teacher then goes on a completely different tangent to justify slavery, citing that African-Americans started it. “Who sold who into slavery?” asks the teacher. “Did you know African-Americans sold African-Americans into slavery? So I’d encourage you to check with your history and get that all straightened out. So you can learn history and how it truly unfolded. ‘Cause, that is true history.” At this point, one of the students got up and left the class. 

People living in Africa were never called "African-American" and nor were they in America until the US civil war. Even otherwise, it's reprehensible to use the instance of Africans selling other Africans, usually prisoners, to White people to justify slavery in America. The substitute ignores that White European and American slave owners made immense wealth from their exploitation, including building entire industries. Even the White House, was built by exploiting the labor of Black people, estimated to be more than 300 in number. Enslaved men, women, and children can be linked with building and staffing of the White House beginning in 1792 and lasting through the first half of the 19th century, reported White House history. 

If the teacher had read up on history, as she had suggested the student do, she would know better than to write 'White Lives Matter.' The students were put off by the teacher, and eventually, a Black student got up and wiped the board clean. The teacher warned that she would be asked to report to the school office, but it's unclear if the student was reprimanded for wiping the board. A couple of other students also can be seen picking up their belonging and leaving class, done with the teacher.

It has been long acknowledged that America owes the African-American community reparations for exploiting their labor. While there have always been discussions about reparations for slavery and racism, it gained a hold in mainstream media after The Atlantic published Ta-Nehisi Coates’ piece titled “The Case for Reparations” in 2014. It paved way for discussions on the topic, including a calculation of what is owed and how it should be distributed among the community. Andre Perry, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, is leading a research project to quantify the economic harm caused by slavery and racism. He believes many institutions have a responsibility in addressing the harm caused by them. “The injury around racism occurred at federal, state, and local levels as well as other institutions — colleges, companies, churches — so each has a responsibility to address past wrongs,” said Perry. “We can’t wait for the federal government to issue reparations. In fact, for me, reparations won’t come from Washington, it’ll go to Washington." As we reported earlier, Robert L. Johnson, America’s first Black billionaire, said he wants America to apologize for slavery and provide reparations to the tune of $14 trillion to counter the economic inequality caused by slavery and racism.