School worker resigns after telling black students they’re lucky they weren’t ‘picking cotton’

A school district employee at an Oregon elementary school has resigned after she told a group of noisy students that they were lucky they weren’t “picking cotton,” The Oregonian reports.

While she was supervising lunch at Linwood Elementary School on May 31, the instructional aide reprimanded a group of students, most of whom were students of color, for being too loud.

{mosads}She reportedly made references to slave and manual labor, telling the kids she’d record them while acting out and show the clip to their parents at graduation, the paper reported. Then, she told them they should be grateful they weren’t “picking cotton and cleaning or painting a house.”

In a letter sent to parents, school officials said the school investigated the “inappropriate radicalized comments by a staff member to students” and confirmed that the woman “is no longer employed with the North Clackamas School District,” KGW8 reports.

“We know and understand that the impact of words spoken can be hurtful for our students and that was the case in this situation,” the statement reads. “I deeply regret this impact and will continue to work with our students and school community to make sure they are heard and feel supported.”

In an earlier statement, acting Principal Rosina Hardy acknowledged the “impact has been hurtful and emotional for our students.”

“We deeply regret this impact and will continue to work with our students to make sure that they are heard and feel supported,” the statement read.