Education stakeholder cautions teacher about dating comments

President of the National Parent Teachers Association of Jamaica (NPTAJ), Stewart Jacobs, is warning a teacher who went viral for airing her dating preferences, not to expose her students to what he considers her “scars”.

The teacher recently came under heavy criticism after stating that she would not date a black man who does not have a degree or formal education, but would date men of other races who were in a similar position, as they would have access to generational wealth or other resources. After the video went viral, she created another video saying she would impress upon her black male students that higher education was a must. Jacobs said that the teacher’s thoughts were not unorthodox.

“It is quite a popular belief amongst Jamaican women, and men to some degree. It’s a cultural norm or thought process that your shade determines somewhat how you meander your way through society,” Jacobs said. But Jacobs suggested that the teacher, who spoke of experiences in North America, “then her intake and experience with racism is going to be slightly different from some”.