He imitated the rapper’s Microst commercial for his students.
Conscious rapper Common has used his platform to inspire for years. Whether aspiring emcees want to be like him or enlightened youths want to learn from him, Common Sense has used his popularity to motivate others. A Milpitas, California teacher poked fun at the rapper’s expense for Halloween, and what he thought was a joke has landed him in trouble with students, teachers, and the community.
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NBC News reports that the unidentified teacher imitated Common, much to the ire the administration. The Milpitas Unified School District school board president Chris Norwood released a statement saying the teacher “chose to wear black face paint and satirically imitate a TV commercial and well known national social activist the African American community,” adding the move was “inappropriate, unpressional and insensitive.”
Common has been featured on the national campaign for Microst as he speaks on the importance artificial intelligence technology. A student recorded the teacher mocking the commercial in the front the class as he said, “Opportunities limitless, possibilities senseless, what will you do? Millions people, not enough to eat, what will we do? With A.I. Microst technology, the future…it’s up to you. You can do it. With A.I., the future will blow your mind.”
The teacher has reportedly been placed on administrative leave, and the School District Superintendent Cheryl Jordan along with the school’s principal Francis Rojas released a joint statement condemning the teacher’s actions. “In a school community where we welcome learners and families from over 50 languages who represent cultures and religions throughout the world, and where our long-standing neighborhood, Sunnyhills, was established as the first city in the nation for planned integration, it hurts to know that this type cultural insensitivity and lack cultural awareness still hovers in the background,” the statement said. Watch the clip the teacher below, along with Common’s Microst commercial.