Anti-Korean Remark Was Part Of Pattern With Teacher, Groups Say

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — An anti-Korean remark by a Bergen Academies High School teacher earlier this year was part of a yearslong pattern by the teacher, according to representatives from several Korean-American organizations.

The Korea Daily, a Korean news website, reported Nov. 19 that the teacher asked students on the first day of school what their native countries of origin were. When a Korean student answered "Korea," the teacher reportedly said, "I hate Korean." The teacher allegedly repeated the statement to students in other classes.

Representatives from several Bergen County and statewide Korean-affiliated organizations, including The Korean-American Association of New Jersey, issued a joint statement Wednesday afternoon regarding the incident and subsequent actions taken by the school.

"Our conversations with current and former students furthermore indicated that his was not an isolated incident, but part of a yearslong pattern by the responsible teacher," the statement says.

The representatives want the teacher who said the remark to resign, a public, written apology from the superintendent and a written explanation of the incident and sensitivity training for all faculty and administrators.

"While it has come to light that all faculty members have participated in a sensitivity training recently, the incident raises serious questions on the efficacy of the current program, as well as any negligence on supervision and training," the statement says.

Some people have suggested that the remarks were meant to be jokes, according to the statement.

"Regardless of the intention, once a 'joke' targets a particular person or group in a harassing and degrading manner, it becomes nothing but an excuse to abuse an imbalanced power dynamic," according to the statement, which quoted an article in The Atlantic. "The incident has critically undermined the public trust in [the school's] commitment to a safe learning environment."

The group wants a response from the school's administration by Dec. 13.

Here is the entire statement:

RELATED: Bergen Academies Teacher Allegedly Made Anti-Korean Comments

Email daniel.hubbard@patch.com. Get Patch breaking news alerts sent right to your phone with our new app. Download here.