‘Dumb teacher’ resigns amid controversial comments
Cory Hunter, the Greene County High School teacher under fire for calling a student "the dumbest" he ever met, has resigned.
Greene County School System Superintendent Chris Houston confirmed that Hunter resigned late Monday night at the Greene County Board of Education meeting.
“He will not be returning to the classroom,” Houston said. “In submitting his resignation, he verbally expressed his apologies to his students and fellow staff members for any disruption caused to the school by the controversy over the last several weeks.”
In mid-December Shaniaya Hunter, a 16-year-old junior at Greene County High School, recorded a four-minute tirade launched against her by Cory Hunter after she asked who abolitionist Sojourner Truth was.
His answer was chilling: “You know, you are the dumbest girl I’ve ever met in my life and I have been around 37 years and clearly you are the dumbest girl I have ever met.”
Over the course of the next few minutes Cory Hunter — who was also the varsity basketball coach — says to the student: “You know what your purpose is going to be? To have sex and have children because you ain’t ever gonna be smart.”
Shaniaya Hunter (no relation to Cory Hunter), who has severe vision problems, was initially recording the lecture on her iPad.
Ben Windham, an attorney for Shaniaya Hunter, had threatened to sue Cory Hunter and take the school system to court if he didn’t resign or get fired.
“It is a shame that it took a lawyer to be involved,” Windham. “It is a shame that it took this long. I am just glad for Shaniaya Hunter. She can go to school and hopefully move on.
About the Author
Ernie Suggs is an enterprise reporter covering race and culture for the AJC since 1997. A 1990 graduate of N.C. Central University and a 2009 Harvard University Nieman Fellow, he is also the former vice president of the National Association of Black Journalists. His obsession with Prince, Spike Lee movies, Hamilton and the New York Yankees is odd.
