Marianna teacher ‘told students what ‘CHANGE’ stood for’
Greg Howard
Published: October 2, 2008
Updated: October 13, 2008
The Jackson County School Board has taken action against a teacher who apparently made racial commentary on presidential candidate Barack Obama.
According to parents and students in Greg Howard’s seventh-grade social studies class, Howard on Friday, Sept. 26 asked the class a question regarding Obama’s call for change, and proceeded to write out what the letters C-H-A-N-G-E stood for.
“She told me that he wrote on the board ‘Can You Help A (expletive) Get Elected, and then laughed about it,” said Shelia Christian, a mother of one of Howard’s students.
Jackson County Superintendent Danny Sims said that description of this incident was “pretty accurate.”
Sims said Howard apparently repeated the action in more than one class, having made the comment in “a couple of periods.”
According to a news release from the school board, Howard was suspended with pay on Monday, Sept. 29.
On Wednesday Howard was given a written reprimand regarding his actions, and those actions will be reported to the Florida Department of Education Office of Professional Practices, according to the school board.
As of Thursday, he was suspended without pay for 10 days, was relieved of his football coaching duties, and will be transferred to the Jackson County Adult Education program, according to JCSB.
Howard is also required to submit a letter of apology to the students involved, and is required to attend diversity and sensitivity training, the school board reported.
Sims said Howard’s racial commentary was not directed at any students, but were directed at a political party.
“We’ve handled this swiftly and we’ve handled it with a concern that we’re not going to tolerate it and this is a pretty stiff (action). The situation is behind us and we’re ready to move forward,” said Sims.
“My daughter came home very upset after that happened. When you’re in school teaching our kids, you’re supposed to be teaching them what’s right by the law, not what’s right in your opinion. This is not the stone ages. We don’t come through the back door anymore. I raise my kids to be respectful and they should be led by example,” said Christian.
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Reader Reactions
I’M NOT SHOCKED BY THE COMMENT OF THE TEACHER, JACKSON COUNTY HAS ALWAYS HAD RACIAL ISSUES. THE “JIM CROW LAW” NOT “JEB CROW LAW” IDEATION STILL EXHIST. THIS COMMUNITY HAS RAKED SO MANY INCIDENTS UNDER THE RUG UNTIL ITS A DISGRACE. NOW THE SCHOOL SYSTEM IS TRYING TO MAKE A SERIOUS SITUATION JUST GO AWAY. ITS LIKE GIVING A WHALE A TICK TACK WITH CHRONIC BAD BREATH , WHAT GOOD DOES IT DO? THE REAL ISSUE IS THIS WAS PROBABLY ALWAYS IN HIM IT WAS JUST A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE HE WAS EXPOSED FOR THE PERSON HE REALLY IS AND FURTHERMORE, PUT HIM IN A PUBLIC ARENA. THIS PERSON FREELY WROTE IN A PUBLIC ENVIRONMENT FOR CHILREN TO SEE, THIS IS DOWN RIGHT MENTAL CHILD ABUSE. THESE CHILDREN ARE CAPABLE OF READING FOR THEMSELVES AND THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR THIS BEHAVIOR. TO ADD ON TO THE INSANENESS OF THIS SITUATION, DANNY SIMS MOVES HIM TO AN ENVIRONMENT OF MORE STUDENT MINORS AND ADULTS AND EXPECT THEM TO WANT TO SIT AND LISTEN TO WHAT HE HAS TO SAY IS TOTALLY ASSININE. WHAT DOES HE HOPE TO ACCOMPLISH BY SENDING HIM THERE?, SET SOMEONE ELSE UP FOR A HATE CRIME WHO MAY NOT HAVE NOTHING TO LOOSE. WHAT WILL A LETTER OF APOLOGY DO?, JUST REMIND THE CHILDREN OF THE HURT THAT HE HAS CAUSED AS A RESULT OF HIS BEHAVIOR, HE PROBABLY WOULDN’T HAVE DONE THAT IF HIS JOB WASN’T ON THE LINE OR WAS MADE TO DO IT. BUT I GUESS ONE WOULD SAY ITS OKAY BECAUSE IT WASN’T MY CHILD EXPOSED TO THAT TYPE OF IGNORANT BEHAVIOR BUT THEN AGAIN WELCOME TO GOOD ‘OLE BOY SYNDROME. IT HAS GOT TO STOP SOMEWHERE. AS FOR DANNY SIMS YOU HAVE DESTOYED YOUR OWN INTEGRITY FOR SOMEONE ELSE, WAS IT WORTH PUTTING YOUR CAREER ON THE LINE FOR WHAT YOU & I KNOW IS DOWN RIGHT WRONG? GO FIGURE.
I have known Greg Howard for more than 20 years. I know him to be a good and honorable man. I agree that the comments he is accused of making should not have been made infront of children. But then teachers are humans too, and make mistakes just like the rest of us.
I am sure that this was not the first time these children heard that word. They have probably heard it a million times from friends, family members and that lovely rap music that is forced upon us all by teenagers who think they have to play it at maximum volume with their car windows down.
Let’s be honest with ourselves, it’s just a word. Is the main issue the fact that the dreaded N word was used, or that a white man used it?
This is disgusting. He should have been fired as soon as the facts were established. This slap on the wrist says the school board and the community take this very lightly. For a teacher to feel comfortable enough to write this in class, means he has been getting away with similar conduct for some time. The school board should be ashamed and a movement to recall and replace them should begin immediately. They admitted he did it more than once and still they retain him to represent them as an employee. All decent citizens standup against the filthy rhetoric of the teacher and the cowardly inaction of the school board and demand the teacher be terminated immediately.
Racism clearly is alive and well, which of course is too bad. Not only does it create a climate of fear, intimidation and stress it keeps us, as Americans, from uniting as a group and taking care of our country, economy, and communities.
Sadly, not all people who have caretaking roles, can be caretakers. The teacher’s role is not only to teach, but to be caretakers of our children and the spirit of the environment which makes learning fun, interesting and safe.
Perhaps this is the point where the teacher in question can decide whether he wants to continue working as a teacher. It would mean changing more than just his offering up racist jokes, it would mean working to create that environment which is conducive to learning, something he may not be up to.
Good luck to the children and families impacted by this and similar situations. Life is hard enough without having to worry about what will happen to our children in a place where they are expected to be treated with respect.
I would like to commment on another side of Mr. Howard. The side that my three sons (two biracial and one white) and I have personally known and enjoyed for over fifteen years. First of all, I would like everyone to know that I do NOT condone (in any way, shape or form) the CHANGE comment that Mr. Howard wrote on the board. But then I have to ask…..How many of you have received that exact junk email joke pop up in your inboxes lately?? Any of you crack a giggle at it?? I know personally I have received it at least four times over the past few months, and have deleted it because it personally does not amuse me. This is not something that Mr. Howard made up, but was an awful judgement of error on his part to share it with the class. I am very concerned about the welfare and mental state of Mr. Howard. We all need to keep this in the back of our mind before we continue to go for blood. This man in the article is not the man my family has known for so long. What adult in his right mind would want to commit career suicide who has a family to support? I believe that many stressors that are unknown to us might have led to this situation. It is terrible that the kids are the ones to suffer, but the Mr. Howard I know would not do this if he was at his normal, happy, mental-state. The Mr. Howard I know is completely and utterly devastated right now. We all have a breaking point, and strange awful things can occur when we reach this. I think we all need to look back and realize that we are dealing with a man who has dedicated over 16 years of his life working with children with NO previous disciplinary actions. He has taught all ages and even spent years in special education. He has a eight year old son who loves to help out at practice! Mrs. Howard has also taught two of my sons, and what a wonderful teacher she was! The only year my son enjoyed math class! I have witnessed several acts of kindness this school year that Mr. Howard has done directly dealing with African-Americans. While picking up my son at football practice, there are always students that do not get picked up and are left to walk. I have watched Coach Howard drive these students to the Garden Apartments and save them a long dangerous walk across several busy streets. Even when Coach Howard drove his motorcycle to work one day, he managed to put a student who was not picked up after practice on the back of the bike and drive him to his residence at the Garden Apartments. He has told me before at practice “I just can’t stand to see them have to walk” Actions speak louder than words….and I just want the community to see that there might be something else going on that we do not (and may never)know about. We also need to be very careful about all of these “jumping on the bandwagon” stories that are continously coming out since this story broke. Middle school students are very dramatic, and enjoy being in with the group.(yes, my three sons are probably the worst! 
Let’s check facts and sitations before we consider all the things that are coming out of this as the “absolute truth” Mr. Sims and the school board office have acted according to what they can do for now. Let’s leave it in the hands of the professionals that have been trained to solve situations that arise such as this. The State of Florida Teacher Certification office in Tallahassee are the ones that ultimatly decide to take the teaching certificate if they think the cirucumstances warrant this. Mr.Sims immediately sent them the information. It is very hard to just “fire” a teacher who is tenured such as Mr. Howard. They can not be “fired” without an extensive investigative process. I feel that all the previous comments have been very well written, I just thought I needed to share another side. We have to all come together as a community for these children at the middle school that are seeing all of the things in the media right now. This is not good for them to experience something like this when thier self-esteems are so fragile. We as adults need to handle this whole situation like adults in our community. My prayers are with the Howard family along with the families and students of all who were affected by this. My prayers are also with the school faculty and staff and yes even the school principal. What an awful situation they are all in! Marianna Middle School is a strong loving school and they will easily rise above this with the love they show the students. This can turn into a lesson in life for these children. If the N word is going to be so offensive to some, then all cultures need to stop using it freely. Let’s use this incident to bring us all closer as a community. And be willing to forgive when the time is right. The Homecoming Parade is tomorrow and lets make this a happy commmunity time to put this week behind us!
These are the times that try men very souls. It is truly sad that in 2008 we are still dealing with this type of action from anyone. This teacher has created an enviroment that is very touchy. Mr. Howard has betrayed his collegues, his students, his family and this country. I have a child that was in Mr. Howard’s class, I had heard several negative comments about this man over the summer and before school started. I gave him the benefit of the doubt. At Open House I was not impressed at all by the way he presented himself. Mr. Howard is in the wrong profession. He has helped make public education look even more less inviting. More and more people are choosing to send their children to private schools, online schools, and even home school. Mr. Hoawrd’s wife is absolutely the opposite of Mr. Howard and should not be judged by the unprofessional acts of her husband. People lets pray that God will move on Mr. Howard and change his heart because I do not care what kind of discipline they do to him unless he have a change of heart he will always have that form of malice in his heart. When he gets to the Adult Education Program and make that comment to one of those adults and they rearrange his face he will think that the student is wrong but he will deserve it. Mr. Howard took advantage of the lack of knowledge of those 7th graders and used them to express his bigitry. Mr. Howard may you know that thou you got by when it come to man but there is a man that you will have to answer to and he is going to give you just what you deserve. Remember you have children and your children will go to school with brothers and sisters of the children that you abused and I want you see how it feel when your child is treated as you have treated these children. Until that day you be careful and prayerful. Mr. Sims much success in your future. Another employee that you are going to let cause you to loose the confidence of the voting public. You have ended your career on a sour note. It will be noted that you were a Superintendent that would not hold people accoutable for their deeds and actions and one that did not have and open mind. You were lead by your beliefs whether right or wrong. You did what you wanted to and people could like it or leave and you did not care. Good Luck in your future.
My child also is/was a student of Mr. Howard, his “CHANGE” comment was not the first of his offenses this year. Ask his students about “candy” day. Growing up in a prejudiced family in the South during race riots was very difficult for both my husband and I. We have striven to teach our children that all people are created equally and should be treated with respect as long as that individual earns that respect regardless of race, color, sex, or religion. Mr. Howard lost my child’s respect and when he offended her with both his actions and words, she got up left his class and that little white girl called home. Please “flying angel” not only black people need to stand up we all need to stand up. Breaking down the walls of prejudice needs to happen on both sides.
I am appalled at this man. I cannot believe that we allow people like this teaching our students. It makes one wonder how many more of these kind of people are teaching in our schools. Mr. Sims if you think that this is behind us you are sadly mistaken. That is why you will not be the superintendent the next term. There need to be an investigation by the NAACP and this man need to be FIRED! Black people need to stand up and not allow this travesty to take place. We are not finished with this!!
I really am tired of hearing African-Americans use the N—- word freely among themselves ( half the time as a term of affection/friendship) and when a caucasion individual uses it they have a fit. It either offends you or it doesn’t. It is either a racial slur to you or it isn’t. I’m not saying I approve of a teacher using the classroom as the place of sounding-off his alleged ‘racial slurs’, just that it seems to me there is always more to the story than what is told. Furthermore,there is no way ANY school in the U.S. today can be run by ‘Jeb Crow law’ as another reader put it because the NAACP would not tolerate that!
This is outrageous to be said in a classroom in 2008. Obviously this teacher feels comfortable enough that his superiors feel the same way so there would be no consequences, including but not limited to the Jackson County Superintendent. How dare they say the situation is behind us now. That man still teaches for the school board and that’s a problem. Also that his comments were directed to a political party and not a student is just as dumb as the original statement. Since when has the democratic party been referred to as the N- word. Please tell me how can he refer to a black presidential nominee as a N_____, but it doesn’t apply to the black kids in his class. All this proves is how racist Jackson County is and it still runs its schools by Jeb Crow law.
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