A teacher got more than she bargained for when a young black student challenged her. After sitting through a lesson about Christopher Columbus' 'discovery' of America, proudly precocious King Jordan reminded her that there were people already living in the land.
“My mom said the only Christopher we acknowledge is Wallace, because Columbus didn’t find our country, the Indians did.”
— Yes, You're Racist (@YesYoureRacist) January 23, 2018
King, I am VERY proud of your journal today! pic.twitter.com/QLMwZWObsE
Columbus Day, which is marked on the 8th of October, has long been a source of contention. Perhaps unsurprisingly, some people are uncomfortable with celebrating a man considered to be the harbinger of centuries of conflict, genocide, and colonisation to the New World.
Over the past few years, many cities, states, and municipalities in the US have moved to reclaim the meaning of the day, to honor the indigenous Americans who have lived on the land for thousands of years.
Just recently, San Francisco decided to rename Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day, following the other big cities of Los Angeles and Minneapolis.
In his class journal entry, King blasted the teacher saying for 'something wrong', and told her "today was not a good learning day."
He also said "the only Christopher we acknowledge is Wallace" referring to the given name of the late great Notorious B.I.G.
People loved it
If your lesson on Christopher Columbus doesn’t start with “Columbus was a genocidal monster who never stepped foot in America, and should be be burned in effigy rather than have a federal holiday named after him” then you deserve to be called out for teaching lies
— Yes, You're Racist (@YesYoureRacist) January 23, 2018
Amazing.
— xenopraxis (@xenopraxis) January 24, 2018
THIS IS SO INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL!
— NaTasha Leyva (@NaTashaLeyva2) January 24, 2018
His completely unbothered response to the teacher was the clapback of the year so far
that little "ok" tho 💀
— Wednesday Atoms (@genericpanic) January 23, 2018
when I read "ok" this is what I imagined. pic.twitter.com/0MU0wnNqIq
— jamie. (@MudkipMama) January 23, 2018
Don't ever change, King!
What do you think of King's response? Anything you would have said to the teacher? Let us know in the comments below! We're also pretty active on Twitter too.
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