Edmond Mom Calls For Apology After Teacher Allegedly Calls Son’s ‘Black King’ Shirt Racist

It was Tuesday at Heartland Middle School and Latrell was eager to show off his new birthday outfit. The day changed when Latrell said his teacher confronted him about his shirt. News 9's Feliz Romero has the story.

Wednesday, February 24th 2021, 10:35 pm



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It was Tuesday at Heartland Middle School and Latrell was eager to show off his new birthday outfit. 

“It was a shirt that said Black King,” said Latrell Taft, the middle school student. 

The day changed when Latrell said his teacher confronted him about his shirt.

“She said that if she had a shirt that said, ‘white queen’ it would have been racist,” he recalled. 

He said the teacher then called him racist.

Latrell's mother, Melisa Shirley, is still emotional.

“I’m still shocked as Latrell stated. From a school district I that I thought I loved, trusted the teachers and trust my son to go to school there every day,” she said. 

According to Shirley, at first the school was not as responsive as she would have liked when she told them what happened.

Then, she posted on Facebook drawing thousands of comments and shares.

“I want her to educate herself. Even though she is an educator she is not educated herself,” Shirley said. 

Edmond Public Schools in a statement to News 9 said in part:

“Upon becoming aware of the incident, the school site and the district began a prompt investigation which is ongoing.” 

It goes onto say that the district is "continuing to assess the need for more training and professional development.” 

Latrell said he plans to return to class but hopes his teacher does not. 

“I just don’t want her to be my teacher anymore. I don’t feel comfortable with her working there,” said Latrell. 

Melisa has a meeting with the school Thursday morning. 

She said she wants the teacher to apologize to her son publicly and thinks she should be reprimanded.

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