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This is a big story in Philadelphia, and of course the local wingnuts are in heaven. Now, clearly, this teacher showed poor judgment - but she claims she was only joking with the student. Then again, Gaymon waited a few days before she gave that explanation, so it sounds like this young lady has a legitimate complaint.
Which is too bad, because that Democratic teacher has handed "proof" about intolerant liberals to the wingnut propaganda machine and hardened a stereotype in a young student's mind:
Samantha Pawlucy said she's afraid to return to Charles Carroll High School after she complained that a teacher mocked her for wearing a Romney t-shirt on dress-down day.
The sophomore said classmates, former friends, and even students from other schools have issued threats for what they see as lies and misinterpretation. That's what's she heard from other students and read on Facebook.
"I don't want to go to school and get jumped," said Pawlucy, a second degree black belt in Taekwondo, at her Port Richmond home Thursday evening. "I'm just really scared to go back to school."
The incident went viral after Pawlucy and her parents began publicizing her claim that Lynette Gaymon, her geometry teacher, had publicly humiliated her for her t-shirt.
Pawlucy was wearing a pink Romney/Ryan t-shirt on a "dress-down" day at school Friday when, she said, Gaymon began making fun of her. An adult aide waved a marker as if to draw an "X" on the shirt, Pawlucy said.
She also said Gaymon called the school "Democratic," and said Pawlucy's wearing of the Romney shirt was analogous to Gaymon, who is black, wearing a KKK shirt.
The situation got a lot worse the day after that story appeared in the local paper:
Angered by a teenager's claims of being humiliated by a teacher over a Romney/Ryan T-shirt, students at Charles Carroll High School ignored warnings from administrators and shouted obscenities out school windows at the girl's parents Friday morning.
Samantha Pawlucy had accused her geometry teacher of humiliating her for wearing the shirt, and stayed out of school after saying she learned students had made threats against her. To calm the situation, district officials addressed students Friday, urging them to leave Pawlucy alone.
Minutes later, some students were heckling Pawlucy's parents, shouting obscenities at them.
In the meantime, Gaymon, who lives with two aunts, is getting racist and threatening phone calls:
With the calls to their house and the harassment of the Pawlucys, the two women said, things have gotten out of control. Both expressed a desire to see both sides come together in a face-to-face meeting and settle things.
"Fair and square for everyone. How can this be rectified?" one aunt said. "I do believe that this still can be a done deal."
She said that when Gaymon told them about what happened, she knew her niece had made a mistake, albeit an honest one.
"I told her, 'There were two things that you did wrong,' " she said. "I said: 'One, you pinpointed the shirt. The second thing was to use the KKK.' "
She said her 28 years of experience teaching in New York City had taught her, "You have to be very careful what you say and how you say it, especially when it comes to a child. . . . The fact remains, in the classroom, you are the adult."
