The N Word in the news again...

[Accountable]

I found the followup story in text but not the original. Without the original to put it in context, I don't think it would help.

[Accountable]

Teacher calls student "N" word



WARNING: Story contains graphic language

12:35 PM EST on Friday, February 3, 2006





Valley Traditional High School is in the middle of a racial controversy. A teacher used a racial epithet towards a student. The word is only six letters long but the impact is far reaching.



We do want to warn you that some of the language in this story is strong and may offend some people, but since this story is not just about the "n" word it's also about the pronunciation, we've decided to leave it in the story for you to decide.



Murphy: "What did he say to you specifically?"



Chavers: "Sit down, nigger."



Keysean Chavers is a freshman at Valley, a Boy Scout, a football player, a member of the ROTC, an honor roll student. He was hanging around his teacher’s classroom door in December. The teacher, Paul Dawson, told him to sit down. Dawson says Keysean used the word first.



“I was just kind of stunned for a second and I said, 'Well then, get away from the door, niggaz.' I repeated the same insult because that was sort of what I was trained to do.” The school district says that’s not what they trained Dawson to do. “He tried to say I said it and I didn't say it and no one else in the class said I said it, because I didn't,” says Keysean.



Documents from the school investigation show that several of the students interviewed from Valley did not hear Keysean say the "n" word first. Dawson says students use the slang version of the word at Valley High School all the time. He says “nigger” is a racial slur but says students use “nigga” as often as they say "dude" or "hey, man.” Dawson says as much as he doesn't like the word, he still used the slang version to feel more comfortable with black students. “Why is this word used so frequently? So I just don't understand it and I’m trying to understand it,” Dawson says. “I need help.”



Murphy: "What kind of example are you setting for your students if you are using a word that you don't want them to use?"



Dawson: "Upon reflection, that’s not good."



Dawson was suspended for 10 days without pay from January 9 to January 23 and has to go to diversity training. He says he's learned from this and hopes others think twice before using the epithet. “I will never say any form of nigga. I’m cured of that.”



Dawson says he is sorry for the way things were handled, but Keysean says he is not looking for any apologies. “Apologizing isn't going to change the fact that it happened and he's not been punished,” he says. What constitutes punishment in Keysean’s mind? “Him not having his job anymore.”



Dawson says he wants there to be a steadfast policy against using the word. Right now it is dealt with on a case-by-case basis. Keysean is still in Paul Dawson’s classroom.



Dawson has been with the district for 20 years. As part of our investigation we found that English teacher Paul Dawson was suspended in 1994, back when he worked at southern high school. According to documents, Dawson directed a student to place a sign on another students back that said, “I am gay.” Afterwards, he was assigned to non-instructional duties pending the investigation and he was not supposed to return to Southern High School. The next day he ignored the order and went to Southern anyway. Shortly afterwards, Dawson refused to turn in his grade book to investigators. Dawson was suspended for five days without pay and had to go through an employee assistance program. Dawson also had a letter of reprimand that same year for selling candy to his students.



The school district says even with this most recent incident of him using the word “nigga” toward a student, this veteran teacher will get to keep his job. “It’s understandable the frustration and the anger about a situation like this and we sincerely apologize because it is not our mode of operation, but we do believe that we have sent a very strong message,” says Jefferson County Public Schools spokesperson Lauren Roberts.



Dawson says he will appeal his 10-day suspension to try and get it off his record. He did not want to talk about his past suspension when we met with him. His latest suspension is the longest suspension the district has ever given a teacher.



Dawson will go before district administrators at the end of the month to appeal his unpaid suspension.



Web story produced by Jay Ditzer.

[Accountable]

Teacher calls controversy aftermath "best day of year"



06:35 PM EST on Friday, February 3, 2006





LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- It may sound odd that Paul Dawson is on cloud nine this evening. Excited that he is getting some support from students and he believes that maybe now students won't use the n-word so loosely.



Valley High School teacher Paul Dawson wrote the letter n on one hand, n-bomb on the other because he says now when he hears the n-word, it feels like an assault.



"Essentially I went through a public flogging. Put me in the stockade and flog me. I knew it was coming, but it was worth it to me,” he says.



Even with that said, according to Dawson, Friday was wonderful: “I had the best day of the year today. I could not believe it.”



He says many students stood behind him after the controversy when he returned to school after our story aired. But there were many who were disappointed.



Dawson called student Keysean Chavers the n-word after a confrontation at Valley High School. Dawson says he used the word as slang, just like the students.



“I expected some black students to come up and, ‘I want them to fire your ass!’ I expected that. My two worst enemies? ‘Dawson, you alright.’”

He wants others to now stop using the word and says after his bold statements Thursday, he believes people will.



“I don't want to be in the spotlight. The messenger was bad, but get off me and talk about the message.”



Dawson was suspended for his statements but he's appealing. The Kentucky Professional Standards Board is reviewing the case and could overturn the district’s decision to keep him as an employee.



Dawson had his students write an essay about the use of the n-word in his English class.



I just talked to Keysean's mother a few minutes ago. She says he's been trying to lay low since this all happened and says the students have for the most part treated him fairly since he went public.



Web story produced by Jay Ditzer.

[Accountable]

Black leaders hold news conference to discuss "n-word" controversy



06:30 PM EST on Friday, February 3, 2006





LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- More than a dozen leaders of the African American community held a news conference to talk about the teacher and the issue.



They say he should be out of the classroom and so should the n-word.

“The n-word is negative to most of us -- it's negative to most of around this table,” said Rev. Louis Coleman.



And around this table are leaders of several African American organizations. They're sending letters to the school corporation and to state education leaders, saying, "the suspension was much too lenient... and the suspension indicates... this type of behavior is acceptable to the administration."



“We recommend zero tolerance and immediate termination,” said Rev. Elmer Ross of the African American Think Tank. “If not place him somewhere within the system where he has no contact with innocent children.”



“There is no room in the system for anyone who would use that terminology to degrade,” said Mattie Jones of the Justice Resource Center.

The group also talked about a larger issue surrounding the "n" word -- its use by African Americans.



“Young people in the system… this word is being tossed around,” said Coleman. “They get it from the hip-hop generation, they get it from television.”



“We need to have a zero tolerance for the use of that kind of language. When we say zero tolerance, that's for anybody,” said Ben Richmond of the Urban League.



“We need to make a concerted effort across the board,” said Louisville business owner Charlie Johnson. “The civil rights movement wasn't won just by black people marching and this community needs to come together on these issues.”



The group is also asking the board of education to have a more stringent policy against teachers who use racial or religious slurs.



Web story produced by Jay Ditzer.

[Accountable]

Let me say right off the bat that any zero tolerance rule - any zero tolerance rule - is stupid. We can discuss that in a different thread if anyone wants to.



If they want zero tolerance, how long before the outcry for the imbalance in the number of black students being expelled compared to white students?



Ten days' suspension seems to be plenty, not knowing school precedence or policy.



I've said "nigger" in a leadership class in an illustration and got reprimanded for it. I expected the reprimand as that was part of the point I was making.



Today's young people are taking a long-standing slur and are castrating it by putting it into informal vernacular. Good for them. They need to understand that what's good for one is good for all.



"Christian" used to be a similar derogatory slur.

[OpenMind]

I feel that political correctness has taken this episode out of context.

The teacher was wrong to be using slang at all. To use the term "nigga" seems more like an attempt to impress rather than teach. If slang is the subject, then obviously, it can be used for exemplification.

In informal class discussions, slang can be introduced as a means to get on the same level. But this is a negotiated process between the teacher and the pupils.

Sorry, but I think the teacher needs his butt kicked in this case. He is supposed to be an example to the pupils.

[Accountable]

Define "butt kicked" in your opinion, please.

[OpenMind]

I don't think he should necessarily lose his job, that's too harsh. But he needs to be reprimanded. 10 days without pay should be enough of a punishment, but it doesn't get the message home. He seems to be getting a bit of a ride on the media attention. Perhaps his stint in training might do the trick.

That's what I generally mean by 'butt kicked'. I don't want to see him ending up on the moon. Just enough of a kick to let him know the job comes before his ego.

[Lon]

I don't think the teach should loose his job. I can undestand African Americans revulsion of the N word, but frankly, it's much ado about nothing. Dammit, it's a word, just a word and in my view, it depends on what context the word is used. Why don't we start referring to the K word for Kike, the S word for Spic, the D word for Dago, the M word for Mick, etc., etc.

[OpenMind]

They don't though, Lon. the African Americans use it amongst themselves as was underlined in the news article.

The teacher, by his own demonstration, used it pointedly against the one individual to impress. He confesses that he is loving the limelight. He makes a retrospective argument that perhaps it will stop the use of the word "nigga". He appears to me to be out of line and out of control. He looks like he's scared.

I have Carribean friends. They are loving, passionate, and thoughtful people. I speak to them as I would any friend of mine. If I take the pee, I might call them a "nigger" and they know that I'm just winding them up. I rarely use the term otherwise. I get no joy out of offending people on purpose.

[Accountable]

OpenMind wrote: They don't though, Lon. the African Americans use it amongst themselves as was underlined in the news article.

The teacher, by his own demonstration, used it pointedly against the one individual to impress. He confesses that he is loving the limelight. He makes a retrospective argument that perhaps it will stop the use of the word "nigga". He appears to me to be out of line and out of control. He looks like he's scared.

I have Carribean friends. They are loving, passionate, and thoughtful people. I speak to them as I would any friend of mine. If I take the pee, I might call them a "nigger" and they know that I'm just winding them up. I rarely use the term otherwise. I get no joy out of offending people on purpose.
The teacher said he'd not use the word again. Mission accomplished. Free speech squelched. What other punishment should there be? keep persecuting him until he feels badly?

[OpenMind]

Accountable wrote: The teacher said he'd not use the word again. Mission accomplished. Free speech squelched. What other punishment should there be? keep persecuting him until he feels badly?


Not at all, Acc. I was not brought up with that philosophy.

I just don't think he's learned the lesson. Now he says he's never going to use the word. That means that it can never be debated.

I'm not talking about punishment, he needs to be reprimanded. I think the issue is whether he is doing his job properly. If he finds it necessary to impress his students as a hip guy, then it is possible he's not doing his job properly.

[Nomad]

[quote=Accountable]



The teacher said he'd not use the word again. Mission accomplished. Free speech squelched. What other punishment should there be? keep persecuting him until he feels badly?


Im surprised by your take on this. I agree. He said it, he owned up to it, he took his hits and he corrected it. Humans screw up. Good men learn from their mistakes, then move on.

[Accountable]

I had a good post written & something happened to it. Hopefully I can remember it all.

Nomad wrote: Im surprised by your take on this. I agree. He said it, he owned up to it, he took his hits and he corrected it. Humans screw up. Good men learn from their mistakes, then move on.
Here's my take on it from page 1

Accountable wrote: Let me say right off the bat that any zero tolerance rule - any zero tolerance rule - is stupid. We can discuss that in a different thread if anyone wants to.



If they want zero tolerance, how long before the outcry for the imbalance in the number of black students being expelled compared to white students?



Ten days' suspension seems to be plenty, not knowing school precedence or policy.



I've said "nigger" in a leadership class in an illustration and got reprimanded for it. I expected the reprimand as that was part of the point I was making.



Today's young people are taking a long-standing slur and are castrating it by putting it into informal vernacular. Good for them. They need to understand that what's good for one is good for all.



"Christian" used to be a similar derogatory slur.
I have no reason to disbelieve the teacher. I don't believe he screwed up. If anything, he tried to legitimize the new definition of the word. Unfortunately, he apparently lacks the melanin the "African American community leaders" require to use the word properly.



Nobody has a copyright on the word.



I don't like "what if" statements, but what the hell. If the teacher had been black, nothing would have been said - not by the kid, not by the press, and certainly not by the "African American community leaders." Nobody would be crying zero tolerance, either.