A Long Island Catholic school is under fire after the headmaster, who is white, reportedly made a black, 11-year-old student kneel and give him an apology.
According to TMZ, an English teacher at the St. Martin de Porres Marianist school reportedly caught 11-year-old Trayson Paul working on the wrong assignment during English class, so he ripped up the 6 grader’s paper and sent him to the Headmaster’s office.
John Holian, The Headmaster, allegedly told Trayson to get on his knees and confess his wrongdoing. Then Holian reportedly ordered the child to kneel, telling Trayson that the father of a Nigerian student said it’s the “African way” of apologizing.
Trayson’s mother, Trisha Paul, says her son was very humiliated and feared he was punished so harshly just because of his race.
“Once he started mentioning this African family, that’s when it just clicked. Like, this is not normal procedure. I felt there was no relevance at all. Is he generalizing that everyone who is Black is African? That’s when I realized something is not right with this situation,” Paul told the Daily News.
Holian is now reportedly on temporary leave as the school continues to investigate.
