Several videos on Instagram show the unnamed teacher discussing race in a classroom at Bohls Middle School in Pflugerville, a suburb of Austin.
“So, you are a racist?” a Black student asked in one clip. “Yeah, how many times do I gotta say it?” the teacher replied.
In another clip, he told students: “Deep down in my heart, I’m ethnocentric, which means I think my race is the superior one.”
Students reacted with shock, and one asked: “So white is better than all?”
“I think everybody thinks that, they’re just not honest about it,” the teacher said.
One student then added: “I’m not racist though, I like all types of kinds.”
The videos were shared on Instagram over the weekend by the father of one of the students in a post that has amassed more than 280,000 likes and more than 4,000 comments from people stunned by the teacher’s remarks.
“My son Wants a education and he is being denied that this s*** is sad,” the father wrote in a caption.
“This hurts my heart to see this I’m so angry I’m loss for words but I will stand up for my child and the other black and Spanish kings and queens in this video.” The parent has been contacted for further comment.
One person wrote that they got “so angry listening to this nonsense.”
Another added: “Why even become a teacher if this is how you really feel?”
The clip also sparked outrage after going viral on Twitter and Reddit.
“A teacher in Austin Texas calmly expressed his white supremacist ideology to Black students in his class,” Tariq Nasheed wrote in a tweet along with a clip that has 2.2 million views so far.
“This is the reason why we need reparations and an anti-Black racism hate crime bill.”
The teacher in the video no longer works at Bohls Middle School, Pflugerville Independent School, District Superintendent Douglas Killian confirmed in a statement to Newsweek.
Killian said district officials were made aware on Friday of the “inappropriate conversation” that took place during an advisory class.
“As of Monday morning, Nov. 14, the teacher in question is no longer employed by Pflugerville ISD and we are actively looking for a replacement,” he said.
“We want to reiterate that this conversation does not align with our core beliefs and is not a reflection of our district or our culture at Bohls Middle School. Pflugerville ISD and Bohls MS staff work together to create an inclusive and welcoming environment for all of our students. The advisory discussion was inappropriate, inaccurate, and unacceptable; and this type of interaction will not be tolerated in any PfISD schools.
“We apologize to our students and families at Bohls Middle School for the undue stress or concern this has caused. We have counselors and administrators available for any of our students and families who want to discuss this situation further.
“We always do our best to ensure the safety of all students; we encourage them to be self-advocates and let an adult know when something is wrong, as they did in this situation. If you see something, say something.”
Update 11/15/22 at 5:45 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with a statement from Douglas Killian.