Ohio mother wins her battle to have the white teacher who threathened's her middler schooler with "lynching" School district calls student a "hero"

By Sonia Chopra

The African American mother, who was heartbroken when her middle-schoolers white social studies teacher had told him that if he did not perform well --- his white classmates would form a mob and lynch him, --- has succeeded in having the teacher removed from the classroom.

Agee-Bell won the contentious battle after a week of extensive media coverage and outrage from the community, which forced the school district to finally take a stand in placing the teacher, Renee Thole on administrative leave and hailing the student as a hero.

In a just released public statement, Superintendent Gail Kist-Kline, noted that this week our school district was in the spotlight for a thoughtless and offensive remark made to an African American student. Theres no explanation or defense that would make such a comment appropriate in any setting.

Kist-Kline also lauded the student as the hero in this story, who extended grace to the teacher when he could have reacted poorly and could have rightfully berated the teacher for her thoughtlessness.

Today, Agee-Bell is cautiously optimistic about the future of all minority students in the mostly white, affluent Mason School District.

This is a great first step on the on the districts journey, and I am glad to know that, regardless of why, they recognized the need for the teacher to be out of the classroom and that they have made it happen, said Agee-Bell.

Though she welcomes the decision, she clarifies that she never wanted the teacher to be fired, but to be trained properly.

But the bigger issue, Agee-Bell told this Huffington Post blogger is that Racism is real, and now my community, and our nation is dealing with the division and pain, because somewhere along the line, it was taught, or ignored or dismissed orsomewhere along the personal journey, the conversation about implicit bias, racism and how it creeps into every facet of our lives, was never had.

Kist-Kline acknowledged the same sentiment in her statement, writing that Racism is real in America, and we all have an obligation to fight it.

The irony of the issue being discussed against the backdrop of the celebrations of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day and his legacy of fighting for justice is not lost on anyone.

Dr. King reminded us that the the time is always right to do what is right. In this case, involving the teacher, the right thing to do is to apologize, make amends and take steps to be better, Kist-Kline wrote.

The incident occurred on December 4 but it was a week later when Nathan, 13, finally told Agee-Bell, a former engineer and now a stay at home mother due to her chronic illnesses.

Its a tradition of the Bell family that we discuss social issues at the dinner table and we emphasize strongly on standing up for justice and thats when my son told me that his teacher is a racist, said Agee-Bell to this Huffington Post blogger.

He said he was in class and the teacher told him if he didnt get on his task his friends are going to form an angry mob and lynch him, said Agee-Bell, explaining that her son is the only African American student in the classroom. The class is predominantly white with one Latino and some Oriental and Indian students.

Agee-Bell said that Nathan did tell his teacher that her comment was racist and she denied that it was. Later, in a conversation with Agee-Bell, Thole admitted that she said the wrong thing.

The wrong thing? Agee-Bell asked the teacher incredulously.

Its worse than wrong. You thought it was okay to say to my black child in all white class that a mob would attack him. That is reminiscent of the sickening moments of history when an angry white mob would drag a black man out of his home, his job and his car into the street and hang him, sometimes just for looking at a white woman.

She tried to tell me that she got frustrated with Nathan, he wasnt doing his homework, he was talking. So, I told her, 'Next time you're frustrated are you going to call him a n-----?'" Agee-Bell said.

Then Agee-Bell reached out to the principal, the district, the board and the media, in that order. They did not immediately respond to her request to a phone call but in an email, they acknowledged that Thole had made the racially insensitive remarks to Nathan but that she had been employed since 2004 and her personnel file was filled with positive reviews.

When school authorities pacified Agee-Bell with the fact that teacher would receive cultural training, the mother wanted to know what is all that even about and whether it even adequately addresses the racism that is rampant in the Mason school district, situated in a suburb, which is 40 miles away from Cincinnati.

"I wanted her removed from the classroom until she can get the proper training," Agee-Bell, who is a member of the school diversity committee, had said.

Many other parents were also outraged about the incident and wanted more severe penalties. About 3,477 supporters signed a petition on Change.org https://www.change.org/p/fire-renee-thole-of-mason-city-schools-fire-renee-thole-the-mason-city demanding that the teacher be fired immediately.

Under the circumstances, Agee-Bell did not think it was appropriate for Thole to teach history. She added that Thole, who is in her 30s does not fully comprehend the ramifications of her actions.

She should not be teaching history, she does not understand it. My son understands history, said Agee-Bell, who had had Nathan transferred to another class.

Apparently, the school district agreed and realized the sensitivity of the issue. In their school textbook, it is noted that between 1882 and until the apex of the civil rights movement nearly a century later, more than 3,440 African-Americans were lynched in the U.S., according to the NAACP's website.

The school never denied that a horrible mistake was made. And they addressed the issue quickly.

Gail Kist-Kline, superintendent of Mason City Schools had issued a letter to parents last week addressing the issue.

"We have seen an uptick in the number of racially and culturally insensitive comments in our schools and community. Sometimes these are said out of genuine ignorance," Kist-Kline had written.

"As a district, we want to be very clear, racial slurs or any behavior that discriminates against others are NOT acceptable.

"This is a serious miss on her part, district spokeswoman Tracey Carson had said to the media, adding that Thole's comment is especially disturbing given the horrific national context of slavery, segregation and lynching.

Carson released the letter of reprimand has been placed in Tholes personnel file.

"You shared that you realized that you cannot take that moment back but can only strive to make it a teachable moment for you and the students with your actions," the letter read.

"Be advised that future instances of problems in the areas we have discussed may warrant further disciplinary action to be taken against you that may lead to termination of your employment."

Thole, who makes $79,383 annually, has never spoken to the media but she wrote an incident summary on the incident.

I made a public comment, so I would like to make a public apology. Today is a day where we can learn the importance of thinking before you speak. I made a comment the other day where I didnt stop and think before I spoke. As a result of that I deeply hurt a student and I regret that. Just because I never meant to hurt anyone, doesnt mean that didnt happen, so (redacted), Im sorry. If I had just taken two seconds to think before used the world lynch, I would have not hurt a student. I didnt think about all of the ugliness and horrible history surrounding that word before I used it. (redacted) I am deeply sorry and I hope that you can forgive me, Thole wrote

The backlash and condemnation from the parents and the community had been swift, which Kist-Kline acknowledged in her statement.

Some have called for the teacher to be immediately fired and banned from ever teaching again. We understand and respect the passion of these viewpoints, Kist-Kline wrote.

This is the first and only time the teacher has been disciplined in more than 22 years in our district.

Agee-Bell said that the school district has much more to do and that includes having conversations that are messy and hard

And she is asking for more.

Firstly, Agee-Bell wants Thole to apologize to her son, in front of the classroom because for one week, Nathan thought he had done something wrong and he needed to know that he was not wrong and that he is valued.

Nathan told his mother that Thole did apologize to him in front of his classmates, saying, she was sorry you were offended by what I said.

Agee-Bell asked the school to honor our shared values of diversity and that this incident should be used as a teaching tool to help and understand students with the burden of the history they carry.

Lastly, she said since the teachers work for the taxpayers, the parents have a right to see the code of conduct that the teachers receive so that they can clearly see how wrong her behavior is.

However, Agee-Bell specific demands have not be addressed yet.

And Agee-Bell says not everyone is a fan of her actions.

I have had many people tell me, Why are you making such a big deal of this? I dont agree. If the teacher had physically assaulted a kid, she would be fired immediately but just because she verbally assaulted my son, nobody cares, she said bitterly.

Words can hurt. They can damage. We have to understand that when we break children, we break school districts and communities too.

Yet Agee-Bell finds slivers of hope in the ugly situation:

We have an injured child, a damaged educator, a hurting community. But we dont have to stay here. Now we can focus on what we should have been focused on the entire time: healing. It wont be easy, and we may even open old wounds we thought were healed, but were actually double bandaged, Agee-Bell said.

We will have to be honest, and open, about our own hurts, prejudices, and biases, and be willing to forgive ourselves for the things we have harbored in our hearts knowingly and unknowingly. We will have to be strong because there will be people who will ask us why we are even bothering, since racism will never end.