A group of Ethiopian Israeli schoolgirls received a public apology from their nation’s education minister after a post of the white teachers teasing the students on a school trip went viral.
The girls publicized the teachers’ private and bigoted messages on social media, causing the country international embarrassment.
On Monday, March 6, a religious high school in Netivot, a town in the southern part of Israel, hosted a three-day overnight trip with teachers and students.
During the trip, one of the Black girls noticed a WhatsApp group titled “Black School Trip” while looking over one of the teachers’ shoulders. She then secretly filmed the chat and posted it on social media calling the educators “a disgrace,” according to the BBC.
The student wrote in the post, “Good morning to all the ‘educators’ of this school. It saddens me as a member of the [Ethiopian] community to see the level you sank to today. Instead of being our teachers and setting an example and making us feel like we’re in our safest place, you did the exact opposite.”
“Opening a group called ‘Black School Trip’ without even realizing that there were students behind you and mocking your students? I see the photos, and I just don’t believe that they come from our teachers,” she continued, saying, “You are a disgrace, I’m ashamed that you’re our teachers and that you’re teaching the future generation.”
Hundreds of thousands of people shared the video and pictures of the teachers’ messages, attracting the attention of Israeli politicians.
“The incident will be dealt with severely with all the tools at our disposal,” Israeli Education Minister Yoav Kisch said. “I’m sorry for the distress that was caused for the students. There will be zero tolerance for these sorts of incidents on my watch.”
The Jerusalem Post reports that one of the students’ sisters said her sibling called her about the ordeal.
“She was…
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