While veteran GOP activist Carl Paladino has dominated the headlines in recent weeks for his horribly racist comments about the Obamas, he isn’t the only educator in hot water for revealing himself as a racist knuckledragger. A high school science teacher in Malvern, Arkansas came under well-deserved fire after it emerged that he likened the First Family to apes. Unlike Paladino, who as of this writing has no intention of resigning, this teacher had the good sense to stand down.
On Christmas Eve, Trent Bennett, a teacher at Malvern High School in Malvern–halfway between Little Rock and Hot Springs–posted a couple of racist comments on the Facebook page of KTHV in Little Rock.
He called Michelle “America’s First Chimp” and expressed glee that she and her “spider monkey hubby” were going to be gone in less than a month.
He also called the Obamas “zoo escapees,” and suggested that the president was from Kenya. KATV in Little Rock found more where that came from, such as this.
When the comments became public the next morning, they hit many teachers, as well as current and former students, from somewhere around nail level on the floor. Tabitha Hughes, a 1991 graduate of Malvern High, said that Bennett’s comments were “disturbing” to a lot of people because no one could recall racism ever being a problem. She was particularly unnerved by how brazen Bennett was, saying that she had never known a teacher to “boldly do stuff like that.”
Within hours, school officials issued a burning statement condemning Bennett’s “inappropriate, insensitive” and “racially charged” posts. They also announced that an investigation was well underway.
The Malvern School District confirms they are investigating teacher, Trent Bennett's Facebook posts. pic.twitter.com/TTnGihQ2Wi
— Sarafina Brooks (@SarafinaBrooks) December 27, 2016
MORE: The Malvern School District confirms they are investigating teacher, Trent Bennett's Facebook posts. pic.twitter.com/PNeoLWIQLA
— Sarafina Brooks (@SarafinaBrooks) December 27, 2016
Arkansas state NAACP president Rizelle Aaron called for Bennett to resign, and vowed to do everything it could to ensure he was fired if he didn’t step down. In a colossal understatement, Aaron said that anyone who posts such bilge “has no business molding the minds of children who will lead us into the future.”
By Thursday, Bennett had removed his Facebook profile from public view, though a number of his friends said that he had told them his page was hacked. Later that day, someone must have told Bennett that the game was up. He offered his immediate resignation, and apologized for “the outrage and hurt feelings” caused by his posts. He also deleted his entire social media presence. Aaron applauded this move, saying that anyone who does “something that is against the norm” needs to have the guts to “do the right thing” and own up to it.
While Bennett had the decency to resign, I hope the Arkansas Department of Education yanks his teaching license for awhile. We can’t take the chance that someone with such obviously sketchy judgment is back in a classroom any time soon.
(featured image courtesy KATV via Malvern School District)
