A Bronx teacher has come under fire after she allegedly stepped on students’ backs during a lesson on slavery.
Bronx middle school teacher Patricia Cummings, who teaches social studies at Middle School 118, is facing backlash after students and other members of the school’s staff say she singled out black students during a lesson on slavery in her seventh grade social studies classes, the New York Daily News reports.
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According to several of Cummings’ students, the teacher was giving a lesson on the Middle Passage, the journey by sea in which enslaved Africans were kidnapped and brought to America, when she chose three of her black students to take part in the lesson. She then instructed the students to lay on the floor and proceeded to step on their backs.
“She picked three of the black kids,” one of Cummings’ students said. “She said, ‘You see how it was to be a slave?’ She said, ‘How does it feel?’”
One of the female students that had been selected then allegedly made a joke and said she felt fine, leading Cummings to step on her back.
“She put her foot on her back and said ‘How does it feel?’” the student continued. “‘See how it feels to be a slave?’”
The incident occurred after Cummings had shown her students a video of slaves being beaten, tortured, and thrown over the side of a ship, students alleged.
Following the controversial incident, Middle School 118 removed Cummings from her post for multiple days, though she was able to return to school on Thursday, Feb. 1. She has since been reassigned away from children.
“While the investigation has not been completed, these are deeply disturbing allegations, and the alleged behavior has no place in our schools or in society,” said Education Department spokeswoman Toya Holness.
Cummings, who has worked in the city’s schools since 2016 and is also a cheerleading coach, has refrained from commenting on the lesson.
