Credit: @zettaaloaf/TikTok
White Teacher Accused Of Racism For Singing Birthday Song To Black Student
A Florida teacher has been accused of being racist for singing a birthday song to a Black student.
A Florida mother is demanding disciplinary action against her son’s elementary school teacher after a birthday celebration video sparked accusations of racism and ignited fierce debate on social media.
Desarae Prather said her ‘skin is boiling’ after receiving a video from her 6-year-old son Legend’s teacher at Floral Avenue Elementary School in Bartow, showing the classroom birthday celebration.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Prather told local media outlets after viewing the 43-second clip. “It’s nothing funny.”
The outraged mother immediately filed a complaint with the school district and shared the footage across social media platforms, where it quickly went viral and triggered widespread debate about the teacher’s judgment.
“I felt like you were being racist,” Prather said, addressing the white teacher directly. “I don’t approve of that, and that’s you humiliating him in front of his peers.”
Prather says her son has been too traumatized to return to school since the incident.
“My son can’t – he’s not even in school right now, because he feels as if people are going to call him a monkey, and his feelings are hurt,” she explained, per the New York Post.
“Now I have to seek counseling for him because he was crying not to be back in her class or even go back to that school.”
The mother emphasized the historical context that makes the song particularly offensive. “My skin is boiling. I don’t even like racism, and to know where we come from and our ancestors, and for us to be labeled like that because when they call us monkey, they’re saying we’re ugly, we act like monkeys,” Prather said.
She plans to transfer Legend to another school.
Polk County Public Schools released a statement after the video gained traction online, acknowledging they had “been made aware of a video of a teacher singing to an elementary school student and his classmates.”
“This is now being reviewed by district staff and our HR department. We understand and share the concerns about the teacher’s actions and judgement,” the statement read.
“As a public school system, we serve students and families of all cultures and backgrounds; we expect our employees to always keep that in mind as they interact with others.”
However, Prather said she was never personally contacted by the district before the public statement was issued. “Nobody called me, nobody has notified me or anything,” she said. “But y’all can make a public post on Facebook instead of reaching out to me.”
Stephanie Yocum, president of the Polk Education Association, revealed that the teacher has received death threats since the video spread across social media. The educator has not been suspended.
“Every single person in this country deserves the right to fair investigations and due process,” Yocum said, per MailOnline.
“And it is a sad state of affairs in this country, no matter what side of an issue you end up being on, that people think that threatening somebody else’s life is acceptable.”
In the video, the unidentified teacher is seen leading the class through the traditional ‘Happy Birthday’ song for Legend’s sixth birthday celebration.
After the children finished singing, the teacher asked the young boy if he would like to hear ‘the funny version’ of the song. When Legend nodded eagerly, the teacher snapped her fingers and launched into a jazzy solo performance.
“Happy Birthday to you. You live in the zoo. You look like a monkey, and you smell like one too,” she sang, giggling at the end before instructing students to clap for the birthday boy.
Prather, who says she had never heard this alternate version of the birthday song before, is calling for the teacher’s termination and a written apology to her family.
“I feel like she should own up to her actions. I feel like she should write an apology to my son and my family, because it was unacceptable, and my son is going to be traumatized for life,” she said. “This is going worldwide, and I feel as if she should get fired, because that’s unacceptable.”
In spite of the uproar, Reddit notes that this version of the happy birthday song does predate this event.
@zettaaloaf Teacher calls student a monkey singing happy birthday to him. What do yall think the intent was? NOT MY VIDEO!! I will tag original video person in comments #fypシ #thoughts ♬ original sound – Zettaa Loaf
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