A black man from Wisconsin was given back his job as a school security assistant on Monday after he was terminated last week for repeating a racist slur by the school district authorities.
After weeks of protests by students, teachers and association in Madison, Marlon Anderson who was fired for repeating a racist slur while explaining to a Black student to not use it, was rescinded by the school district.
In a statement by the supervisor Jane Belmore, the district is looking "to live up to the commitments we've made to be allied with our students and be an anti-racist school district."
She added that she was "prepared to take appropriate steps in the current situation" and "mitigate any harm that was caused."
Doug Keillor, executive director of Madison Teachers Inc was quoted by the New York Times saying that the man's firing would be rescinded and he will be placed on paid leave. He also said that the district is working on a transition plan on "how best to reintroduce" Anderson back to school.
Anderson who has been working at the Madison Metropolitan School District for the past 11 years was fired by school authorities due to its strict zero-tolerance policy towards derogatory language by district staff. The incident got nationwide coverage and had protests involving students and teachers who staged a walkout last week.
Singer Cher offered to pay for Anderson's legal expenses on Friday and the former US education secretary Arne Duncan condemned the move on Twitter stating the school needed to "grow a brain and a heart".
Following the large scale outcry over the issue, Anderson's student union stated that such reinstatement by the district is "incredibly rare". "It's incredibly rare for a district to take this sort of action and then, within a week, rescind the action that they took," Keillor said.
Anderson thanked his supporters on his Facebook post that read: "Thank you to the 1,000 plus students for allowing your voices to be heard and to all the people from across the globe for reaching out to my family.". He also thanked "Gloria Reyes, MMSD School Board President for working with Boys & Girls Club and Brandi Grayson, and my union to advocate for my return."
