BURST
A Coquitlam high school teacher has been reprimanded for making racially insensitive and discriminatory statements during classroom discussions and chats with students.
Evgueni Vladimirovitch Melnik was teaching a comparative civilizations class in May 2021 when he talked about the Epic of Gilgamesh and the concept of immortality.
“Melnik drew a line graph on the blackboard with ‘Animals,’ ‘Humans,’ ‘Jesus’ and ‘God.’ This was meant to illustrate the material and non-material nature of all human beings,” said a summary of the punishment on the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation website posted online Tuesday.
“In discussing humans, Melnik said that humans were complex thinkers. With respect to God, Melnik said ‘everyone wants to reach this.’ At some point during the lesson, Melnik referenced Black Lives Matter protesters and circled ‘Animals’ at least three times. In a conversation with a student outside of class time, Melnik said he believed all lives matter and that police were not the problem.”
He also questioned an emphasis on gender diversity and inclusion in the culture and media.
“In a discussion about the influence of the media through the use of language, Melnik said: ‘the media has you believe there are more than two genders when using the words ‘bisexual’ and ‘binary’ … there are so many labels, who cares?”
A student in the class was a member of the LGBTQ community and reported being “very upset and impacted by this comment.”
Melnik also questioned the reality of racism. He told the class it didn’t exist and that “a lot of what is described as racism today comes from cultural differences.” He talked about anti-Asian sentiment among railroad workers in the early 19th century and said they were “resented because they worked for less money and followed direction.”
Late in 2021, Melnik was given a letter of discipline and suspended by the district for eight days without pay, which he served before the end of the year. He was also ordered to take a course on diversity and sensitivity training.
An investigation was ordered by the teacher commissioner in 2023 that led to the signing of a consent resolution agreement, in which Melnik admitted to professional misconduct. He accepted the reprimand and was ordered to complete a course on creating positive learning environments by the start of the coming school year.
The commissioner said the penalty was considered appropriate because Melnik shared views with students “that did not align with the district’s expectations that teachers refrain from engaging in conduct or comment which disparages or discriminates against others,” and that he “did not foster a safe environment for his students, nor did he role-model respect for diversity.”