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A South Florida teacher is under fire again for inflammatory comments made during a rant about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Steven Babice, a social studies teacher at Everglades High School in Miramar, apparently flew off the handle during a discussion about Kirk the day after he was killed, a 17-year-old student who recorded part of the rant tells New Times. A man identified as Babice can be heard on the recording telling a class of mostly Black students, “I grew up white. Everyone I know was taught not to be racist; we’re all equal. That’s what we were taught. Then I become an adult, and guess what I find out? Black people are taught to hate white people, so who’s the racist?”
“Why do Black people hate white people?” he continues in the rant. “Because cops are killing Blacks, is that what’s going on? Are more whites getting shot by cops than Blacks? Somebody say yes because that’s a fact. How come there are parades, fires, murders, and burning cities down all because George Floyd, a career criminal, died? But when a white girl on a train gets stabbed in the neck — just whispers. If that was a white guy killing a Black girl, the world would be upside down, correct? So who’s the racist?”
The student’s mother, who asked to remain anonymous for fear her daughter will face retaliation, tells New Times she’s worried about sending her 17-year-old back to the class and apprehensive of what else he’s been telling impressionable teenagers. She’s filed a complaint with the school and school district officials, who say they’re investigating the matter.
“Broward County Public Schools is committed to upholding the highest standards of professionalism and ethical conduct,” spokeswoman Keyla Concepción said in a written statement to New Times. “We take these matters seriously and will thoroughly investigate all allegations to ensure our learning environments remain safe, respectful, and inclusive for every student and family.”
The issue began the day after Kirk died, when Babice began arguing with a student about Kirk and whether he espoused racist ideas, the 17-year-old student tells New Times, noting she wasn’t exactly sure who initiated the exchange. Babice became irate and began slamming his fists on his desk and kicking a closet door, the student says.
Kirk led Turning Point USA, a nonprofit organization that traveled nationwide to high schools and universities to advocate for conservative policies. Turning Point’s anti-woke messaging and grassroots mobilization of Gen Z and Millennials played an influential role in President Donald Trump’s second run for office. He is perhaps most famous for viral videos of him verbally sparring with college students over gun rights, abortion, immigration, and other hot-button issues. His death inspired a social media firestorm, where many who made light of the situation lost their jobs.
Since his death, all kinds of Kirk quotes have resurfaced, including those where he suggested Black airline pilots are simply diversity hires and don’t deserve their positions, and that prominent Black women like Michelle Obama and Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson lack the brain-processing power to be taken seriously, according to reporting from The Guardian.
“If I’m dealing with somebody in customer service who’s a moronic Black woman, I wonder, is she there because of her excellence or is she there because of affirmative action?” Kirk infamously asked on his podcast last year.
On the recording, a man identified as Babice tells students that he doesn’t want to hear anyone call someone racist without backing it up.
In comments that weren’t caught on a recording, Babice told his students Black people should stop complaining because the U.S. has had a Black president and Everglades High School, where Babice teaches, has a Black principal, the 17-year-old student tells New Times. Babice also told students that Kirk has done more for Black people than people like Barack Obama, she says.
He booted the defiant student from the class, telling the remaining students “that ignorant Black kid” doesn’t know what he’s talking about, the 17-year-old student tells New Times. Babice then kicked the entire class out and told them to go to the teacher’s room next door, she says. The next day, Babice forced students to watch a Kirk memorial video and cursed at kids who were reading books and not paying attention, she says.
“Kids are scared and don’t want to go back to class,” the student’s mother tells New Times. “I don’t know why that man is still teaching.”
The woman says she was appalled to find Babice was able to keep his job after making derogatory comments in 2019 about women. Babice replied to a Facebook post from a former student about laws restricting abortion rights.
“When an irresponsible whore learns that a baby’s life has as much value as hers then maybe she’d use her mouth instead of her polluted vagina. Ignorant,” he wrote.
Before teaching at Everglades High, Babice worked at Charles W. Flanagan High School in Pembroke Pines, according to former New Times reporting. A memo dated March 24, 1997, from former Flanagan High principal Sara B. Rogers warned Babice to stop making inappropriate comments in class. It noted only that students had made allegations, but provided no further details.
“This correspondence is to serve as a warning to you to refrain from engaging students in conversation that may be perceived as…having sexually suggestive connotation,” Rogers’ memo stated. “This behavior is…unacceptable.”
Babice moved to Everglades High in 2004. Three years later, Crime Stoppers received an anonymous tip, according to his personnel file. It claimed Babice was doing drugs and having sex with a student who had graduated two years earlier. Broward Schools investigator Gary Rowe confronted Babice, who denied the claim, and then concluded a memo: “At this time there is no further information.” No evidence in the file points to any additional investigation. Then-principal Paul Fetscher said he would monitor Babice, and the case was closed.
Current Everglades High principal Marie Duperval hasn’t returned New Times‘ request for comment.
