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03/28/2024 05:29:27 pm

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Ferguson Tweet Cost Texas Teacher Her Job; #VinitaHegwood Trends on Twitter

Demonstrators protest the shooting death of teenager Michael Brown on August 13, 2014 in Ferguson

(Photo : Reuters ) Residents and Police Authorities in Ferguson, Missouri are preparing for the worst, as a grand jury is expected to make an announcement soon on whether Darren Wilson will be indicted or not.

It's official. A racially offensive tweet cost Dallas English high school teacher Vinita Hegwood her job. The trustees of the Duncanville Independent School District, in a special meeting on Friday morning, confirmed her discharge over a comment she made on her personal Twitter account about the Ferguson shooting that resulted in the death of Michael Brown.

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The trustees stressed that it gave Hegwood, a teacher for 20 years, an opportunity to explain her side, but they nevertheless decided to fire her. Hegwood actually resigned from Duncanville High School, although she was suspended without pay first following her tweet.

Hegwood told the trustees she was just reacting to several "threatening and racists attacks" toward her. While she said that the controversial tweet does not reflect the high benchmark she has placed on herself and her students over the past two decades, she took full responsibility for what she did and apologized to the school district for embarrassing it with her tweet.

The trustees met to decide if it will accept her resignation or fire her, according to USA Today, over her November 7 tweet which reads: "Who the ... made you dumb ... think I give a squat ... about your opinions. #Ferguson kill yourselves."


In choosing to fire Hegwood, the trustees said in a statement that their focus is to provide education to more than 13,000 students and its 794 teachers will continue to perform their duties of enriching the minds of their pupils.

Hegwood's axing comes at a time that a grand jury, which heard testimony for about three months, is about to issue its decision if it will charge police officer Darren Wilson for the death of the 18-year-old African American on August 9. The incident sparked racial protests, some of which became violent.

Her firing is currently trending on Twitter under the hashtag #VinitaHegwood and has led to several negative and positive reactions.

Kristie agreed with the trustees' decision, tweeting, "Good, she shouldn't be teaching our children." Steve Young similarly believes that Hegwood should not only be fired, "She should never teach again. Impact on children goes beyond curriculum."

Tina C., however, shared that she read a comment that the reason behind Hegwood's axing was not due to her tweet but because she is black. The Ghost noted the irony in his comment which reads: "Black racist Vinita Hegwood fired for being a racist. Good job Texas keep them in line."

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