Rantz: Seattle-area teacher calls Black conservatives racial slurs, district investigates

Parents and community members are upset that a Seattle-area teacher used deeply offensive, racist slurs to insult Black conservatives who support President Donald Trump.

Kalles Junior High School in Puyallup prides itself on celebrating “diversity and creating a welcoming school environment.” But one of their coaches, and a substitute in the Puyallup School District, isn’t living up to that goal.

Now, the school district is investigating the incident.

Teacher uses racial slurs to attack black conservatives

Stefon Lyons attended the RNC Convention in Washington, D.C. Conservatives and police were harassed and assaulted as they left the White House following President Trump’s speech. The incident made headlines for the violence, including a scary incident where a mob threatened Senator Rand Paul and his wife.

On Instagram, Lyons posted a video under the “stories” feature. He was in the backseat of an Uber explaining what he witnessed.

“You could hear the protesters getting loud, so we’re out there for that…,” Lyons said. “…as we were leaving, we ran into people leaving the acceptance speech. So, a bunch of rich, GOP donors. And we actually had some interesting words with a Black family that supports Trump.”

He then feigns two coughs as he blurts out the slurs “c**ns” and “Uncle Toms” to describe the Black conservatives.

Seattle-area teacher Stefon Lyons called black conservatives he met at the RNC "c**ns" & "Uncle Toms" for supporting @realdonaldtrump and after a complaint, the school district is investigating. The teacher says it wasn't hateful.

Read his full statement: https://t.co/kfullg8jNl pic.twitter.com/syfgOtmy6H

— (((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) September 3, 2020

‘This wasn’t a hateful statement’

Reached via email, Lyons insists his statement wasn’t hateful, noting he was joking.

“In the Black community these words both represent being a sellout,” Lyons tells the Jason Rantz Show on KTTH. “While there is a racial connotation attached to both words, they aren’t hateful like some other racially charged phrases. While I’ll own the fact I could’ve used better language, [it’s] pretty clear in the video this wasn’t a hateful statement.”

The context of the video provided does not, in fact, make it clear it wasn’t hateful. Though he doesn’t elaborate on their conduct, he said his response was specific to the Black family he interacted with.

“The video doesn’t represent how I feel about Black people, conservatives, or Black conservatives, but about one specific experience, with a specific group of people,” he explains.

Though Lyons acknowledges the slurs he used are specific to calling Black people sellouts, he says, “I didn’t call them names because they were Black conservatives, but because of how they acted in that situation.”

Puyallup School District investigates

The Puyallup School District confirms they received a complaint this past Sunday from a concerned community member. Sarah Gillispie, the district’s Director of Communications and Public Engagement, confirmed to the Jason Rantz Show on KTTH that the district is “currently looking into the situation.”

She notes that, due to pandemic staffing, Lyons is current listed as “inactive” as a staff member.

Though Gillispie can’t get into this specific case, she spoke more broadly about expectations on social media posts.

“In general, public educators and district employees are held to a high standard and asked to be mindful of posts on social media that could cause community concerns,” Gillispie told me. “Social media posts by active employees should not create disruptions.”

Lyons being inactive will likely play a role in how the district proceeds and it could impact whether (or under what circumstances) he’s brought back to the district. Based on some emails sent to the Jason Rantz Show on KTTH, a group of parents aren’t pleased.

A parent reacts

One parent who reached out to the show has two students in the district. He asked to remain anonymous fearing backlash for his political opinions. That’s rather telling of the political environment, given he’s speaking out against racist slurs used against Black conservatives.

“I think it’s an irresponsible and disgusting way to act. These teachers are supposed to be role models and mentors to our youth. Mr Lyons is inciting racism simply because someone has a different belief than him,” the father said.

“I refuse to have my children taught by a racist! Calling a Black person a c**n is absolutely terrible.”

Lyons rejects the idea that he would treat conservative students differently in class. He tells me he’s “fully confident that the students, teachers, and parents that I’ve worked with would dispute any bias or negativity from me.”

A somewhat tricky situation

Lyons certainly doesn’t shy away from activism online.

On Instagram, Lyons shares anti-cop rhetoric, this week referring to cops as pigs. He is also the Vice President of a Tacoma-based activist group Legally Black. It is a grassroots political movement meant to promote equality — though perhaps not for Black conservatives.

“Teachers all across the spectrum post to their respective social media profiles, this is no different,” Lyons tells me.

In his racist Instagram post, Lyons wasn’t acting as a substitute teacher or coach. And he is, and should be, granted protections for his speech. But a conservative student, regardless of race, should be reasonably concerned that they would be judged unfairly in the classroom by this educator who holds such intolerant, hateful views. That makes this issue, to me, somewhat complicated.

That Lyons claims the use of racial slurs in a clearly derisive way is not hateful is, of course, ridiculous. Black conservatives routinely put up with this kind of abuse by ideological bigots who shouldn’t think they’re any more just in they’re political views as a Black conservative is in their own.

And I can’t help but wonder: if Lyons was a conservative who made similarly hateful comments about Black Progressives, would he be fired? Likely. And it would probably come after a grassroots group promoting equality marched to the school chanting for the superintendent to act.

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