Mark Traina, the Jefferson Parish school psychologist who left his job on Tuesday after posting racially inflammatory messages online, issued a statement to The Times-Picayune on Friday that he said aimed to explain his remarks. “I offer this as an explanation of my awful tweets,” he wrote. “In no way does this justify the harshness of my comments.”
Traina posted hostile comments about African-Americans on NOLA.com and Twitter which then were flagged by the Southern Poverty Law Center as part of a complaint that the school system sends a disproportionate number of black students to alternative schools. Traina worked with the referral process. A lawyer with the law center cited his statements as supporting evidence for possible biases.
His Twitter comments reacting to violent crime incidents included remarks that “young black thugs” who break the law “should be put down like the dogs they are,” and “angry young black males with no respect for life! Destroying the U.S.” He also referred in approving tones to white supremacist and segregationist figures.
On Monday he said he was merely being realistic about problems with crime in the black community. In his statement Friday, he described his comments as emotional reactions to news articles about crime in his native New Orleans. Traina, 55, lives in Slidell.
⭕️Poply Buzzly🎈Kulture Knews 