Wisconsin teacher labeled a 'rogue' instructor by community just for talking about Black Lives Matter in class

A teacher in the town of Burlington, Wisconsin sparked a massive backlash earlier this year when she talked with her fourth-grade students about the origins of the Black Lives Matter movement.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that teacher Melissa Statz at the start of the school year decided to talk with her students about Black Lives Matter after hearing students ask questions about violence that erupted in Kenosha, Wisconsin after a police shooting left local Black resident Jacob Blake paralyzed.

"It was right after Jacob Blake was shot, and the kids were talking about it," Statz explained to the Journal Sentinel. "They'd seen the boarded-up buildings... They were asking questions."

Statz did not expect the fierce community backlash she received, starting with a private Facebook group called "Parents Against Rogue Teachers" that called on her to be fired for supposedly "indoctrinating" children by talking about BLM in class.

Shortly after the group started, a racist vandal burned the N-word into the wooden chips in the school's playground.

What's more, Burlington school board member Taylor Wishau, who wore a "Blue Lives Matter" face mask to board meetings, labeled Statz a "rogue" teacher whom he vowed would be "dealt with."

The Burlington school board this week, after being pushed by local anti-racism activists, did adopt what the Journal Sentinel describes as a "slim" policy that nonetheless was deemed inadequate by local resident Darnisha Garbade, who for years has been raising awareness about the racism experienced in the town by her own children.