A Louisiana teacher is under investigation after she made a racist comment in the public Facebook group Whatz Goin On in Acadiana.
Lafayette Parish educator Julie Colley is listed as an in-school suspension facilitator and tutor at Ossun Elementary. She removed the affiliation with the school from her Facebook bio after making the comment.
Although Colley’s comment has since been deleted, a post shared to the page includes a screenshot of the offensive remark.
“Im not going at 6:30. Cameron St? Ythat’s n—erville after dark lol,” the comment, posted Saturday said. It was reported as hate speech to the group admin.
Allison Dickerson, a public information officer for the district told KLFY, “LPSS is aware of this situation and is conducting a thorough investigation into the matter. Because this is a personnel issue, no further information will be shared.”
The comment was made under another group member’s post about a back-to-school event on Cameron Street over the weekend. Colley’s disparaging remark was made about visiting the area after dark.
Parents quickly called for Colley to be fired after she made the comments. About 45 percent of the students at Ossun are Black.
Marja Broussard, vice president for the Louisiana NAACP’s District D, told The Advocate, “We will not tolerate this bigotry that continues to traumatize our youth and further the narrative that our Black children are second-class citizens,” adding, “We are calling on Superintendent Trosclair to immediately remove Ms. Colley from any ability to further traumatize students, especially Black and Brown, Indigenous, and immigrants or from any ability to continue to teach this mentality to innocent students trusted in her care.”
The controversy surrounding Colley’s comments comes just days before students are set to return to school.
Parent Nureaka Ross told KADN, “I’m seriously concerned, she’s poisoning the minds of the most vulnerable.” She added that it “speaks volumes” that Colley felt comfortable making the comment publicly.
The NAACP’s continued statement contends that Colley’s ideology perpetuates the idea “that Blacks will always be the ‘N-word,’ and only worthy of enslavement, prisons, and torn-down businesses on the North Side of town, and where it’s too dark for any human dignity after 6:30 p.m.”
It is not yet clear if Colley has been fired.
