Video Of Teacher's Native American Parody Condemned: Riverside

RIVERSIDE, CA — It's unclear what a math teacher at John W. North High School in Riverside was trying to convey to her students when she donned a construction paper headdress and appeared to parody Native American culture in front of her class, but the fallout has been swift.

The teacher, who was not officially identified by the district, is being investigated and was placed on administrative leave, according to a statement issued Thursday by the Riverside Unified School District Administration.

The statement read in full:

"A recording of one of our teachers has been widely circulated on social media. These behaviors are completely unacceptable and an offensive depiction of the vast and expansive Native American cultures and practices. Her actions do not represent the values of our district. The teacher has been placed on leave while the District conducts an investigation.

"The Riverside Unified School District values diversity, equity and inclusion, and does not condone behavior against these values.

"We are deeply committed to implementing inclusive practices and policies that honor the rich diversity of our district and the greater region. We will be working with our students, families, staff and community to regain your trust."

The video (below) of the teacher's apparent parody was circulated Wednesday across social media platforms. In the video, she sounds to be chanting the mnemonic SohCahToa, used to help remember the definitions of the trigonometric functions sine, cosine, and tangent. As of Thursday, the video had made national headlines.

"The recent actions by a teacher at John W. North High School do not reflect Riverside values. As our society progresses to be more cognizant of our nation's diverse set of cultures and inclusive of their voices and experiences, it is paramount that we listen, learn, and correct with an open heart.

"I thoroughly support Riverside Unified School District's investigation and am confident that the course of action following that investigation will be measured, just, and sensible."

Assemblymember Jose Medina (D-Riverside), Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes (D-Corona), and Assemblymember James Ramos (D-Highland) released the following statement:

“We fully condemn the actions that took place at John W. North High School earlier this week. The teacher’s behavior was highly inappropriate and offensive.

“It is damaging and disheartening to see Native American and indigenous culture represented in such a trite and insensitive way. However, this is not an isolated incident, as such teaching practices, even in math classes, have been used across the nation. It is time that we stop this behavior.

“Just weeks ago, the State of California made ethnic studies a required course across California high schools. Unfortunately, for students of color, moments such as the one at John W. North High School are the few in which their heritage is represented in the classroom, despite how inaccurate and wrong they are. We need to ensure that students learn about themselves in positive, accurate, and appropriate ways.

“As members of the legislature and members of our community, we are fully committed to working with Riverside Unified School District to make sure that appropriate actions are taken and incidents like this never happen again.”

The Lakota People's Law Project had this to say on social media about the video:

"Wow.. this is just: WOW. We would say it’s the season for this sort of thing- but this is apparently just a normal day teaching math?"

It's not clear when the RUSD will wrap up its investigation.