Gregg Tucker, Faith Christian Academy Teacher, Says He Was Fired for Addressing Racism
A popular teacher who taught at Faith Christian Academy, a private Christian school in Arvada, Colorado, said this week that he was fired for tackling the issue of racism with students after working at the school for 17 years.
Gregg Tucker, the teacher who is featured in several parody videos with students from the school, told ABC7 Denver that his "opposition to racial discrimination have very much to do with" the Faith Christian Academy's decision to fire him.
"Contrary to statements that have been reported, the termination of my employment was not a mutual separation and I did NOT agree that the issue of race and equality had nothing to do with it," Tucker said in a statement to ABC7 Denver.
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Tucker, who has a biracial family, says he decided to tackle the issue of racism during a chapel talk at the school last year after a number of alleged racially charged incidents.
School officials told ABC7 Denver that none of these alleged incidents have been verified but they include a teacher calling a student "blackie," a student writing and sharing an essay on why whites were the superior race, as well as a white student telling a black student to "go back to the cotton fields." Another student is said to have worn a swastika to school.
Tucker explained that after looking into the incidents he set up a panel discussion last August for his chapel session and gave parents advanced notice of the session including who would be speaking at the event.
Days after the session, however, some parents complained to board members that their children were exposed to terms like "white privilege," and noted that discussing racism was "too political for a Christian school education."
In a letter shared with the Faith Christian Academy community last month, school Superintendent Andrew Hasz said Tucker's firing had nothing to do with his decision to tackle racism at the school.
"At a joint meeting this evening with Gregg Tucker and the FCA administration it was mutually agreed that it is in the best interest of all involved for Mr. Tucker to step away from his teaching duties effective today," Hasz said in the letter dated Feb. 26.
"Through multiple discussions with Mr. Tucker it was clear that we have many similar goals and values, especially the deep conviction we share that everyone is created in the image of God and there is no place for racism within our community. This issue was not a factor in the decision. We do, however, have some ongoing differences which have nothing to do with the topic of race or equality," Hasz further explained.
In his statement to ABC 7 Denver, Tucker insists the superintendent was not being truthful.
"Mr. Hasz, in fact, explained to me that my opposition to racial discrimination had very much to do with their decision to terminate my employment. How the administration has handled the issue of racism, which was the primary impetus for me facilitating the chapel in January, was and is the fundamental point of contention," he said.
"I believe there is much work to do in this area in order to make Faith Christian Academy a more welcoming and safe place for minority students. I hope and pray they will commit to humbly seek forgiveness and reconciliation with the students, parents, and alumni that have been harmed, and urgently develop strategies to prevent it moving forward," he added.
Faith Christian Academy says on its website that the school provides a biblically integrated education, and guides students to "discover and develop their unique spiritual, mental, creative and physical gifts, so that they may glorify God and serve others through the power of the Holy Spirit."
