The Desoto County School District is investigating after a family reported a racist incident that happened at DeSoto Middle School.
Amiah Foster, 11, says it happened Friday at DeSoto Middle School. She says other students were telling racist jokes when her teacher, Taylor Wiley, decided to join in.
"And Miss Wiley goes, 'Hey, y'all wanna hear a dark humor joke? What's the difference between a Black man and an animal? An animal is there for its family.'" said Amiah.
"It was disgusting and hurtful. She needs to realize that her comments have a big impact on people's lives," said Amiah's mother, Olivia Jones.
Amiah reported the incident to the school. The DeSoto County School District confirmed to us that it is investigating a potential incident. A spokesperson sent us the following statement:
"The DeSoto County School District is committed to providing a safe, inclusive, and respectful environment for all students and staff. We are aware of the concerns that have been raised, and our administration takes any allegation involving inappropriate or insensitive conduct very seriously.
"At this time, our internal investigation is ongoing in order to thoroughly understand the facts surrounding the situation. During this process, we are following our established policies to ensure a fair and impartial review. To maintain the integrity of the investigation, and to respect the privacy of those involved, we cannot provide details about personnel matters."
Olivia Jones says the school switched Amiah to a different classroom so Wiley wouldn't be her teacher. However, she thinks Wiley shouldn't be teaching kids at all.
“Every now and then, you come across the article of a child who hung himself because they've been bullied. I don't want that to be a statistic for my daughter. I don't want that fo nobody. I want bullying to stop. And it's more hurtful coming from a teacher. I don’t understand why Taylor thought that was OK to do, but it wasn’t,” said Olivia Jones.
NBC2 tried reaching out to Wiley for comment, but she did not respond.