LONG BEACH, Calif. — John Solomon, a teacher at MacArthur Elementary in Lakewood and secretary of the Teachers Association of Long Beach (TALB), has been placed on administrative leave after circulating a racist photo of a Black child in a union group chat. The image showed a child on a toy box with an ankle monitor and the message, “We need this for our runners.”
While TALB called for Solomon’s resignation, the Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) initially declined to investigate, raising questions about how the district handles complaints tied to race and institutional power. Lakewood, some educators say, reflects a deeper issue which is the persistent marginalization of Black students and staff within LBUSD.
Whistleblowers tell The Voice of Black Los Angeles that before the Solomon incident, non-Black personnel in positions of influence openly shared harmful stereotypes about Black children—portraying them as more violent, disruptive, or overall unwanted on campus.
Solomon continues to maintain that his phone was hacked.
However, the group chat message reinforces longstanding stereotypes of Black children as “runners”—a dog whistle term often applied to students, particularly those with special needs or on the autism spectrum, who may leave classrooms.
The controversy comes four years after LBUSD adopted its Excellence and Equity policy in 2021. The policy is intended to end systemic racism and discrimination affecting students based on race, culture, and...
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