A few weeks ago, Jordan Huerta, history teacher and coach of softball and basketball at Tattnall County High School in Georgia, was informed that he would be suspended from coaching this coming school year, citing “Racially charged banter” on his social media page. The school has no social media policy for teachers, and the word that kept coming up regarding his situation was “professionalism.” Mr. Huerta had merely posted his personal support for Black students in his community, and a commitment to “do what I tell my students to do, which is listen” in the wake of George Floyd’s murder at the hands of Derek Chauvin and the Minneapolis Police Department. The firestorm that ensued blindsided Jordan, who never imagined that affirming Black children could land him in hot water. On today’s emergency episode, he shares with us more about who he is, his path to a social justice and anti-racist mindset, and his state of mind during this troubling episode. He shares inspirational and instructional insights, and is still able to laugh during a very hard time.
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1 comment on ““I Just Want to Coach.” Emergency Episode with Jordan Huerta”
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This was so great, y’all. Thanks for the platform for Jordan’s story. I’m so glad that you stumbled upon us, and through that we now have a new podcast to listen to – which if you knew me, you would know that’s the last thing I need.
For those interested, here is a link to a Google Drive folder with more information (in need of updating) – https://drive.google.com/…/1w9aT1RWYyZVveglYpoYA-rV-Z0KduVs…
Here is a link to the petition, currently at over 5,000 signatures – https://www.change.org/p/tattnall-county-board-of-education…
Here is a link to a Facebook group in support of COACH Huerta, currently at over 450 members (updates/media coverage posted here) – https://www.facebook.com/groups/225166398439449/