Bobby Morgan still remembers it like it was yesterday.
He said his sixth-grade teacher told his parents he “did not belong” in honors classes. And those words stuck with him throughout high school and college.
He said he believed school wasn’t for him for most of his childhood.
Morgan, 37, was raised in Pemberton, New Jersey, and attended local public schools.
Most of his teachers were white, with the exception of two women of color in elementary school. He said it may have made a difference if he had Black men role models in education, especially because, outside of class, he dealt with issues that he had no control over.
According to Education Week, only 2 % of teachers in America are Black men, despite most of America’s students being youth of color (teaching is a woman-dominated profession).
New Jersey Department of Education data shows that children of color make up 59% of the state’s student body. However, teachers of color only make up 17% of the teacher workforce.
It ultimately inspired him to return home to become a math teacher before transferring to Joyce Kilmer Elementary School in Trenton.
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