Here’s a lesson that you can master, and you don’t even need a higher education degree: don’t drop the N-word in front of black people. It’s a simple, rudimentary lesson that can land you out of hot water, save your job, and prevent you from being canceled in this interconnected world powered by social media. In Kansas City, Missouri, one white teacher is now out of a job because he repeatedly dropped the slur in front of his students. The school at which he used to instruct was majority black, and whether it was in an educational context or not—it was just a surefire way to get yourself in trouble with administrators. You can delve into some of the darkest eras of our history, like the Jim Crow period and Reconstruction, without dropping that word (via The Blaze):
Students and alumni from University Academy — a pre-K-12 college-prep charter school in Kansas City — raised concerns about the teacher, Johnny Wolfe, the Star said.
University Academy consists of about 1,100 students, the paper said, 96% of whom are students of color — and most of them are black.
Students at the upper school took videos and voice recordings while confronting Wolfe about his use of the slur, which were later posted by KC Defender, a black nonprofit community media platform, the Star reported.
In one video, the teacher can be heard saying, “Just like African-Americans call themselves n*****. So, there will maybe be people who don't like that, but it was said in an educational context, and it was said for the purpose of talking about empowerment. So, you can like it, not like it, be upset about it all you like, but ultimately this is a ridiculous conversation.”
In another video, the teacher can be heard saying, "I appreciate the point of view. I actually said in the last class, I probably shouldn't have said it. That said ... it was said in an educational context. We cannot police other people’s speech, people. We can't do it."
After a student tells the teacher, "So basically you don't feel like you were in the wrong to say it," the teacher replies, "I just said I probably shouldn't have said it based upon the educational level of a ninth-grader, but I do feel like ... you as seniors should be able to understand the context and be able to put it in perspective."
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You must know your surroundings, sir. I guess you could say that this is a free speech argument, but it isn’t—the school has ample ground to dismiss you, a white man, hurling racial epithets in a classroom full of black students. It’s just inappropriate. It’s not the hill to die on; other methods exist to teach the material without dropping that word. He also is caught admitting that he screwed up saying it. Needless to say, his next interview for whatever job in education, if he can even secure one, should be full of contrition.
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