A Tennessee teacher was fired justifiably last school year for teaching his students that white privilege is a fact of life rather than a theory, an outside hearing officer overseeing his appeal process ruled late last week.
Matthew Hawn, a Sullivan County, Tenn., contemporary issues high school teacher, was insubordinate and unprofessional and violated the teacher code of ethics when he failed to provide students 鈥渧arying viewpoints鈥� on the existence of white privilege during a lesson on police brutality against Black men, hearing officer Dale Conder said in his decision.
鈥淒espite knowing he was to provide varying viewpoints, Mr. Hawn did not provide a viewpoint contrary to the concept of white privilege,鈥� Conder wrote in his decision.
Hawn, reached by Education Week over the weekend after the ruling, has not yet decided whether to appeal Conder鈥檚 ruling.
鈥淚 really thought that I was going to be teaching in Sullivan County. I thought we made a great case,鈥� said Hawn, 43, who grew up in the county and had been teaching in the district for 16 years. 鈥淚鈥檓 just extremely disappointed and defeated.鈥�
The ruling comes amid a raucous national debate over whether districts and states should censure the ways teachers talk to students about America鈥檚 racist past.
As his case gained national attention, Hawn, who was tenured, decided to appeal the firing, asking for a hearing to determine whether the district acted legally.
Hawn taught a contemporary issues class at Sullivan Central High School for more than a decade, where he brought up current events in his classroom for students to debate and discuss. In September 2020, Hawn told his contemporary issues students, 鈥渨hite privilege is a fact,鈥� while juxtaposing the police shooting of Jacob Blake, an unarmed Black man, and the actions of Kyle Rittenhouse, a white teenager who walked away unharmed after fatally shooting two people at a Black Lives Matter protest in Kenosha, Wis.
On Sept. 10, Hawn was told by his principal in an email to allow room for classroom discussion and not make declarative statements about the topics he brought up in class. Undeterred, he later that year assigned a Ta-Nehisi Coates essay called 鈥淭he First White President鈥� about Donald Trump, which calls the former president a white supremacist.
After a parent complained, Assistant Director of 69传媒 Ingrid Deloach issued Hawn a reprimand for failing to provide varying perspectives, which is a requirement under Tennessee鈥檚 Teacher Code of Ethics.
When Hawn wanted to discuss former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin鈥檚 verdict for killing George Floyd with his class in June, he chose to show a video of Black poet Kyla Jenee Lacey reciting her poem, 鈥淲hite Privilege.鈥� This time, he also assigned students to read Peggy McIntosh鈥檚 鈥淲hite Privilege: Unpacking an invisible knapsack鈥� and CNN writer John Blake鈥檚 opinion piece, 鈥淚t鈥檚 time to talk about Black privilege.鈥�
Conder did not consider any of these to be a 鈥渧arying perspective鈥� to the poem, because they did not question the existence of white privilege.
鈥淭hese articles do not challenge the concept of 鈥榳hite privilege,鈥欌�� he said in his decision.
In a school district and county that鈥檚 overwhelmingly white and conservative, Black writers like Coates, Lacey, and Blake are the varying viewpoint, Hawn said.
鈥淲henever I teach perspectives from African American people, I have to immediately compare and contrast it with a white narrative,鈥� said Hawn,a white self-described 鈥渁nti-racist鈥� teacher in a district where more than 94 percent of students are white. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what they want me to do with my lesson plans.鈥�
The district鈥檚 school board will now vote on whether to uphold Conder鈥檚 decision.
If the district鈥檚 school board votes to uphold the decision, Hawn has the option to appeal to the Sullivan County Chancery Court. If Hawn isn鈥檛 satisfied with that court鈥檚 decision, he could ask for his case to heard in an appeals court.
His firing and subsequent case has drawn national attention, including from the Atlantic, the New York Times, and CNN.
Faith Jones, one of his former students who testified on his behalf in August, said that while she鈥檚 disappointed in the court decision, she鈥檚 eager to see what he does next.
However, Jones said she鈥檚 worried for future Sullivan County students after the school district removed the contemporary issues class from its curriculum this year, according to Hawn.
鈥淚 think taking teachers and classes away from small towns limits any type of growth. I just hope Sullivan County isn鈥檛 moving backwards with decisions like these,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f we鈥檙e not even taught about what problems our society is dealing with every day, there鈥檚 no way to fix it.鈥�
Current head of Sullivan County 69传媒, Evelyn Rafalowski, said in a statement that Conder had 鈥渃orrectly ruled鈥� in the district鈥檚 favor.
鈥淭he termination stemmed from a repeated failure to abide by school policy of presenting opposing viewpoints in his contemporary issues class at Sullivan Central High School,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he subject matter of Hawn鈥檚 class was never the issue in this case.鈥�
