to academy parents. i deeply apologize and hope forgiveness is in your hearts. today ms. gordeuk described the evening s events to reporters. and i said you re being rude. and disrespectful to in young man. and i looked left and the light, as you know lights in an auditorium. you look left all i saw were black people getting up and leaving. and i said oh look who is leaving, all the black people. so i made a statement. it wasn t a racist remark. anybody that knows me knows my heart is with these kids. joining me now, linda haywood, son johnnie bird. johnnie graduated friday night. both he and his mom were in the room when the principal made her remarks. welcome to you both. johnnie, let me start with you. first of all congratulations on your graduation. i understand you re joining the army soon. yes, i am. all right. so what was your feeling about principal gordeuk before this ceremony this evening?
to not listen to this speech. it was my fault that we missed it in the program. look who is leaving. all the black people. that prompted a reaction. and then apology from ms. gordeuk where she blamed her outburst on satan. the devil was in the house and came out to my mouth she wrote in a letter to tnt academy parents. i deeply apologize and hope forgiveness is in your hearts. today ms. gordeuk described the evening s events to reporters. and i said you re being rude. and disrespectful to in young man. and i looked left and the light, as you know, lights in an auditorium. you look left, all i saw were black people getting up and leaving. and i said, oh, look, who is leaving, all the black people. so i made a statement. it wasn t a racist remark. anybody that knows me knows my
and i said you re being rude. and disrespectful to in young man. and i looked left and the light, as you know, lights in an auditorium. you look left, all i saw were black people getting up and leaving. and i said, oh, look, who is leaving, all the black people. so i made a statement. it wasn t a racist remark. anybody that knows me knows my heart is with these kids. joining me now, linda haywood, son johnnie bird. johnnie graduated friday night. both he and his mom were in the room when the principal made her remarks. welcome to you both. johnnie, let me start with you. first of all, congratulations on your graduation. i understand you re joining the army soon. yes, i am. all right. so what was your feeling about principal gordeuk before this ceremony this evening? we had a close relationship. she helped me through the school and everything, you know. so i really didn t feel that that was coming at all. so
leaving, all the black people. so, i made a statement. it wasn t a racist remark. anybody that knows me knows my heart is with these kids. i ve been teaching 30-something years. gorduek also responded to reaction over her comments. people always think the worst. you know, oh you say the word black, you know was i supposed to say african-american? were they all born in africa? no they re americans. and they live here. but i m not a racist. people that know me i worked with disadvantage kids like this that couldn t get through school. we help them get a high school diploma and we ve been doing it for 15 years. and our heart s in it. we re not against anyone and i ve never disrespected anyone. gorduek has apologized to her students and their families. she wrote an apology letter
and also explained her version of events leading up to that remark. you look left all i saw were black people getting up and leaving. i said oh look who s leaving, all the black people. so i made a statement. it wasn t a racist remark. anybody that knows me knows my heart is with these kids. i apologized to my family and my kids, and their graduation, i m sorry it ended up like that and i apologized and we ll continue on. reporter: i also spoke with the aunt of one of the graduates who says gordeuk s remarks and her odd behavior throughout the entire ceremony have forever put a tarnish on the memory of this graduation and the accomplishment of all those young men and women. this aunt would like to see gordeuk reach out and make a private apology to the students away from the glare of the media spotlight. as for gordeuk, she says she is considering a leave of absence or appointing an interim