Barneys’ racial profiling case gets complicated for Jay Z: New York Attorney General investigating; also, Ohio teacher's racist rant

Jay Z and David Spondike

See earlier post about Jay Z, Barneys New York, and false arrests of young black customers HERE.

What, you might ask, is a story about race doing on an education blog? What does racism have to do with education? Here's a hint:

Ohio Teacher Suspended For Racist Facebook Rant
By: Jamal Booker
Issue Hawk
October 31, 2013

Akron teacher Dr. David Spondike was suspended for his racist Facebook rant.

An Ohio teacher was suspended without pay this week for a racist Facebook post in which he repeatedly referred to African-Americans as “ni**ers.” Dr. David Spondike posted a racist Facebook rant about “ghetto” trick-or-treaters who urinate on telephone poles, but then promptly removed it after the post immediately sparked outrage. It was then brought to the attention of Black Firestone High School in Akron, who suspended Spondike while an investigation is taking place.

In the racist Facebook post, Spondike wrote: “When you whip out your teeny d*cks and piss on the telephone pole in front of my yard and a bunch of preschoolers and toddlers, you can take your ni**er-ass back where it came from. I don’t have anything against anyone of any color, but ni**ers, stay out!”

In a post written in the form of a list, Spondike acknowledged using the racist term in his Facebook rant and apologized. However, he also insinuated that it was hypocritical for black people to get upset about whites using the N-word. “I am not going to say that ’someone hacked my Facebook page,’ like most people do. Racism implies prejudging, which is clearly not what happened here,” he wrote. “Making any excuse for allowing one race to use a word and condemning another race for using the same word is institutionalized racism in and of itself, regardless of the justification used.”

[Maura Larkins comment: Dr. Spondike is most certainly guilty of prejudging. I'm guessing he did see one or two young boys peeing in front of his house. Then he indicted an entire race, half of whom aren't even male, and would therefore not be inclined to pee on any telephone pole, particularly not the one in front of Spondike's house. I would say Mr. Spondike is lying--to himself as well as everyone else--when he says that the N word has nothing to do with color.]

The racist rant marks the fourth time that Spondike has faced disciplinary action from the Akron Public School District. The former production assistant on The Jerry Springer Show also was punished throwing a chair against a wall and spitting on the floor in front of a student. He was also accused of physically assaulting a middle school student, but there was not enough evidence to file charges.”

(Photo: Black Firestone High School)