Using the n-word
In an article in the September 28 Atlanta Journal-Constitution, entitled "Racial slur case should caution all teachers", an overly sympathetic Mary MacDonald reports that: "The story of a [W]hite Cobb County teacher disciplined for using a racial slur in her classroom has sent a powerful message to all teachers: Be very, very careful in your choice of words."
Although I can agree with this specific conclusion, the article as a whole supports what is clearly a misbehaviour of the teacher, Cheryl Mewborn, was reported to have said referred to her students as "niggers". The article is indicative of those social sensibilities (or, more correctly, the lack thereof) that are quite commonly entertained by the vast majority of right-wing white Americans.
For readers who are not familiar with the situation, let me explain. A verbal altercation arose in a classroom in which two African-American students used the n-word on one another. For the record, I will note here that I do not condone the use of the word by anyone, least of all people of colour.
Unfortunately, not all people of colour agree with me. Be that as it may, in an effort to stop the argument, the teacher proclaimed to the class which, with the exception of herself and four Latina/o students, was made up entirely of African-Americans, "... all of you are niggers".
As you might have guessed, many African-American parents are now calling for Cheryl Mewborn to be fired. I can appreciate their dissatisfaction with the teacher.
Clearly, MacDonald does not seem to recognise the magnitude of the teacher's error. The article suggests that because Mewborn was trying to stop the children's argument, everything she said and did was acceptable.
Although she was trying to demonstrate how wrong it is to use the n-word, by using it herself to describe all of the other African-American children in the class (who had said and done nothing wrong), in effect, she did the very thing that the arguing children had done. The harm done was made all the more so when she then attempted to clarify her word use by noting that she and the four Latina/o children were not the "niggers".
The thoroughly errant behaviour on the teacher's part begs the question: had the children been hitting one another over the head rather than subjecting each other to the slur, would she have hit the rest of the children over the head to prove that hitting one another is wrong?
This incident is a lesser but clear example of where the illogical and widespread support for capital punishment in America comes from, in that the vast majority of Americans think that it is quite alright to kill people to show that killing people is wrong.
BY BRANDON ASTOR JONES
[The writer is a prisoner on death row in the United States. He welcomes letters commenting on his columns (include your name and full return address on the envelope, or prison authorities may refuse to deliver it). He can be written to at: Brandon Astor Jones, EF-122216, G3-77, Georgia Diagnostic & Classification Prison, PO Box 3877, Jackson, GA 30233, USA, or email <BrandonAstorJones@hotmail.com>. You can visit the author's web site at <http://www.BrandonAstorJones.com>.]