After months of unemployment, a Black applicant got a teaching offer at Furtah Preparatory School in Acworth, Georgia just weeks before the school year started that August.  It was a private school and they wanted him to take a $7,000 pay cut compared to what he would have gotten in a public school system.  The school claimed that they were short of money and will consider any good performance when they prepared the raises for the next year.  They also wanted him to volunteer in an activity, so he volunteered for soccer.  The teacher had no choice but to swallow the bitter pill.  After all, he was behind on his bills.   

When the semester started, the school made him teach two biology classes, geometry, calculus, and Algebra 2.  He was the only one teaching 5 subjects, while the rest were teaching 3.  Only about two others out of about 12 teachers taught 4 classes, yet he must have had the lowest pay.  He did not complain because he was able to now pay his bills, he was getting married that November, and he believed that something better would come his way.  As the term went on, he noticed that the school coach was usually not present, but an outside assistance came to help out on the soccer field.  What was worse was that the school put the Black teacher in charge of the school van to take the students to the games and back.  It was not long that he noticed parents sometimes came late to pick up their children after games.  Some days, the parents would come 9PM for a game that ended at 6PM and since the coach was not in charge of the van, he sometimes drove home straight from the game without returning to school to see that all children were picked up by their parents.  This meant that the Black teacher had to wait till the last child was picked up.   

The teacher did not want to rock the boat; after all, he just got this job and did not want to appear like he was fighting the school.  But after a while, he went to the heads to the schools and explained the situation to them.  He told them that he was hired as a Math and Science teacher and not a soccer coach, and that he was only asked to volunteer.  He also made it clear to them that the coach should be responsible for all children during sports events.  He did tell them that he was not volunteering anymore because the coach and students did not appreciate his effort and moreover, his wife was now in the middle of her pregnancy and needed to be with her in the evenings.  It seemed that the school turned the students against him.  All of a sudden, they became rude in class and were now calling him a quitter.  He did explain the situation to the students, but that did not help much except for the few students who were well brought up.  I think what happened was that the school thought that they got a fool to accept such a ridiculous offer.  They seemed to enjoy the teacher working a lot for little benefit, but when the teacher took a stand, the joke was now on them, so the school retaliated.   

As the year came to an end, they did not include him in the soccer postal, and the year book.  It was like he never existed.  He was to be used for one year of cheap labor, and if he had behaved like a loyal horse, then maybe they would have renewed his contract.  It did not matter though, because he got a better offer in another school.  In fact, at the last day of school, the school demanded that all teachers submit their textbooks and grade books to the main office.  The Black teacher was later accused of not submitting the teacher’s edition for the calculus class.  He then told them that he never received such a book after making three requests for it during the year.  It was later on that the middle school math teacher swore that she gave him the book.  That was the first time he knew that the book was even purchased.  I only wonder why a fellow teacher should be the one to handle another’s teacher’s textbooks.  Did they think the students will ridicule him if he could not teach calculus without the teacher’s guide? 

The aim of the article is to teach young Black people especially the boys, that honor is superior to a paycheck.  Just because you must have income to sustain yourself does not mean any system should be allowed to degrade you for it.  The wealth of White America comes from cheap or free Black labor and knowledge.  Sometimes, you might settle for something less temporarily, but never give more that the value of the settlement because you will never be appreciated for it.  Aim high and work hard to a point that your income is dependent on your acquired skill and experience.  Ultimately, you only want to answer to God with a clean heart and service to your community.