Black Lives Matter Sign In Middletown Classroom Ignites Debate

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — The father of a student at Middletown High School North said this sign was hanging in his child's classroom this week, and he would like the district to take it down.

The lettering appears to be etched or glued to the front of the teacher's desk and reads "In this class, we believe: Black Lives Matter. Women's rights are human rights. No human is illegal. Science is real. Love is love. Kindness is everything."

Middletown resident Mike Craig, 52, said his child snapped the photo while sitting in her science classroom Tuesday. Middletown is following a hybrid model this fall, and a group of students were physically in the building that day.

Craig said he was immediately angered when he saw the photo, and he would like the Middletown school district to ask the teacher to take it down.

"All I want is politics taken out of school," he said. "I've heard this woman is a great teacher and I don't want her to be disciplined or anything like that. I just want her to take the sign down. She does not have the right to put it up and have all the kids stare at it all day. Nor would I want anything with Donald Trump up there. She can have these views in her private life; she can do whatever she wants to in her private time. But it's a science classroom; politics shouldn't be there."

Craig is a retired police officer.

Craig said he intends to call Middletown schools superintendent Mary Ellen Walker and ask her to have the science teacher take the sign down.

He shared the photo to the Middletown NJ Communities & Families Facebook page Tuesday evening and controversy on the page exploded, with his photo getting more than 1,600 comments. Some people wrote they would be contacting the district to ask that the sign be taken down. Others said they support the sign, and would be similarly calling the Middletown superintendent, asking that the teacher be allowed to keep the sign up.

"I love the message this teacher is is promoting. If all people felt similarly, what a wonderful world this COULD be," wrote one person.

"Kudos to this teacher! Everything he/she says is true and what I instill in my daughter. Privilege doesn’t diminish empathy," wrote another.

Countered another:

"Right now in this climate, BLM is political same as anything Thin Blue Line is political right now. How many of us know teachers that are married to cops? I know tons, have them in my family. If one of them brought in a thin blue line flag for their class would that be acceptable? No, there would be people that would be very upset by that too. Need to keep ALL of the politics out of the classrooms."

Middletown superintendent Walker did not return repeated emails and phone calls from Patch asking how many phone calls the district has gotten about the sign, whether in support or against. She also did not answer when Patch asked if the teacher would be allowed to keep the sign up, or have to take it down.

"I've consistently said I don't want my children indoctrinated and I don't want your political opinions jammed down my kid's throat," said Craig. "If she wants to have kids stay behind after class to talk about it, OK fine. But this is what kids are seeing in the classroom. Black Lives Matter is a racially charged thing that's dividing a nation right now."

Don't miss a minute of local Middletown news! Click here to get Patch email updates and follow Middletown Patch on Facebook. Have a news tip? Email the Middletown Patch reporter, Carly.baldwin@patch.com