A Toronto high school teacher who showed up at school in blackface for Halloween says his intention was to portray a zombie — still, he is “horrified” for the hurt he caused, a discipline committee heard on Tuesday.when the incident occurred, pleaded guilty to professional misconduct before a three-member panel of the Ontario College of Teachers.
“He was horrified that he caused hurt to so many people,” said Susan Ursel, the lawyer representing Surlan. Ursel told the committee Surlan didn’t understand the impact of his actions at first. When he did, she noted, he “immediately expressed remorse.” Before students arrived, he put a blue medical mask on beneath the black mask. When class started he found it tough to breathe, so he removed the black mask and left the blue one. Later, students complained to an administrator about the teacher being in blackface. The principal called Surlan down to the office and then noticed that his entire face was painted black beneath the blue medical mask. She told him students were upset that he was in blackface and Surlan appeared shocked and confused.
While on home assignment, Surlan says he researched blackface and learned why it is so offensive, which left him feeling “horrified” that he had hurt so many people.
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