Nancy Gordeuk, the suburban Atlanta principal whose racially charged remarks at a graduation ceremony last week caused many African American attendees to walk out, has been fired after a video of her comments went viral.
Georgia NAACP president Francys Johnson told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Thursday that Gordeuk had been "released" from her job at TNT Academy in Stone Mountain, Georgia. A YouTube video, in which Gordeuk could be heard saying "Look who's leaving, all the black people," while she struggled to gain control of the audience, has gained national attention.
WXIA-TV reported that the chair of the TNT Academy's board of directors Heidi Anderson sent a letter to the Gwinnett County NAACP announcing Gordeuk's dismissal.
"In light of recent events, the board of directors of TNT Academy has moved to dismiss Nancy Gordeuk as principal," Anderson's letter read. "During the coming transition, we will continue to prioritize support for our most recent graduates. Moreover, we will continue our commitment to providing students with the best educational classes, transcription services, and academic credit recovery possible."
Johnson told WXIA-TV in a statement that she believes Gordeuk made matters worse afterwards by trying to defend her actions.
"Beyond the inappropriate remarks, the former principal attempted to legitimize the bizarre episode by claiming ‘the devil made her do it,'" Johnson said. "The Flip Wilson defense may have worked for a comedian, but not a chief educational official charged with the overall day-to-day management of academic and school operations.”
Gordeuk said to WSB-TV last week she was trying to get the crowd's attention after she missed the valedictorian's speech in the program schedule. She said she asked security to remove a man who walked to the front of the ceremony and began videotaping students during the speech and ignored requests to go back to his seat.
That was when people started to walk out before the speech ended, and Gordeuk said she made the comments out of frustration.
But attendee Brooklyn Jacobs argued that Gordeuk crossed the line by targeting African-Americans when whites were leaving the ceremony as well.
"That was something that was just unnecessary and uncalled for because there were more than just black people that were leaving the scene," Jacobs said.
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