Black Man In NYC Receives Over $2M For Repeatedly Failing 'Racist' Teacher's Test
Bomani Jones isn't the only person who failed into millions of dollars.
Meet Herman Grim, a 64-year-old man from Queens, New York.
Grim is a black man, whom the city handed $2 million for repeatedly failing a mandatory teacher's test that a court has since determined was racist.
According to the New York Post, around 5,200 black and Hispanic teachers and once-aspiring teachers will receive more than $1.8 billion in judgments as part of a nearly three-decade federal discrimination lawsuit.
"As of Friday, 225 people who failed the Liberal Arts and Sciences Test used for teacher licensing from 1994 to 2014 had already been notified they’re getting settlements of at least $1 million, according to an analysis of Manhattan federal court records," details the report.
"Court rulings found the exam violated civil-rights laws, allowing far more white candidates to pass."
Grim, because he failed the test so many times, received the largest payout of $2,055,383. "I can’t tell you how many times I took them. A lot! A lot!" said Grim.
Always refreshing to see failure pay off.
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How exactly was the testing system racist, you might ask?
Per the lawsuit, the best example the lawyers could find is one version of the test asking teachers to explain the meaning of a painting by pop artist Andy Warhol.
Overall, it was the disparate test scores that prompted the lawsuit and subsequent settlement.
More than 90 percent of white teachers passed the Liberal Arts and Sciences Test between March 1993 and June 1995, compared to 53 percent of black applicants and 50 percent of Hispanics.
Thus, one Brooklyn principal called it “crazy” for the city to settle the case.
“The standards are the standards,” he said. “It shouldn’t be based on what would be easy for blacks or whites. To hire people who are not qualified and change the requirements because a certain group didn‘t pass the test is bulls–t.”
Correct. And yet the $1.8 billion settlement is the largest in New York history.
Sometimes failing pays better than succeeding. Ask Bomani. And Herman Grim.