Teachers are expected to be caring toward their students, especially young children. Singing “Happy Birthday” in class is a simple, kind gesture that most kids look forward to. That’s what seemed to be happening at a school in Florida, where a teacher and her class were celebrating a young Black boy’s birthday.
At first, everything was normal as the class sang the traditional “Happy Birthday” song. But then the teacher asked the boy if he wanted her to sing a “funny song.” He agreed only to be met with something shocking, offensive, and blatantly racist.
The so-called “funny” version went:
“Happy birthday to you,
You live in a zoo,
You look like a monkey,
And you smell like one too.”
What should have been a lighthearted moment turned into something deeply disturbing, especially given that it was directed at a Black child.
The Florida boy didn’t look too excited during the song, especially since his classmates were laughing. His mother didn’t like it at all. Since the teacher apparently filmed the video, she might have assumed that nothing was wrong with the song. She should, however, have considered the lyrics and how they would sound when sung to a Black kid. Of course, the video made the boy’s mom upset, and she saw the teacher as a racist. After posting the video herself, the mom posted a screenshot of an email she sent to the school board. She described the teacher’s behavior as “inappropriate and racially insensitive conduct.” She also claimed that the event gave her son trauma. You can understand her anger because no Black mom would be happy when someone calls their kid a monkey.
In the email, the mom wrote that the event harmed her son and that he is afraid of going back to school because of what happened. She is now demanding that the school carry out an investigation. Her list of demands also includes: Immediate disciplinary action, a written apology, counseling support, and a written explanation of what steps the school is going to take. In addition to this, she gave them three days to respond, or she would escalate the situation. The teacher should never have sung this song to the boy. If it was funny as she said then he would have been laughing. Who was laughing in that situation were his White classmates.
People Reacting to the Racist Florida Teacher
While the Florida mom turned off comments under her video, other accounts reposted it and people weren’t happy there. Immediately, a lot of people demanded that the teacher get fired. “Fire the teacher,” one person wrote. One woman also said, “I want her job TOOK by noon tomorrow afternoon. THANK YOU.” Others commented on how the other kids themselves noticed that something was happening. “Even the kid in the red shirt knew something was wrong with that,” one person wrote. Another woman believed that the White children were the only ones amused as she said, “Only the white kids found that amusing smh.” Aside from commenting on the other kids, some people commented on how the boy himself looked. “He look uncomfortable,” someone wrote. Another person then said, “Nahhh this is CRAZY. Look at the look on the black boys face!! Unacceptable!!! She need to be fired immediately!”
Some people tried defending the Florida teacher saying that she didn’t mean to be racist. “I’ve heard this version since I was a kid,” one person wrote. Another person then said, “Child we use to sing this all the time yall make anything about racism.” Not a lot of people agreed with this opinion as they believed that context matters here. “I remember this song as a child BUT in this time and day don’t sing it! Especially to a Black child…,” one woman wrote. Another woman believed that the teacher was racist on purpose since she decided to sing Happy Birthday twice. “The teacher knew exactly what she was doing. There was no reason for her to sing happy birthday twice,” she wrote. This is honestly a good point. If the boy really feels traumatized and humiliated, then the teacher should apologize to him.
