What is wrong with us.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Students at a Wisconsin high school skipped class Friday and marched through the streets of the state capital to protest the firing of a black security guard who was terminated for repeating a racial slur while telling a student not to call him that word.
Madison Police Department spokesman Joel DeSpain didn't immediately respond to an email seeking an estimate on how many students took part.
Madison schools have a zero-tolerance policy on employees saying racial slurs.
Security guard Marlon Anderson, 48, said he was responding to a call Oct. 9 about a disruptive student at West. He said the student, who is black, called him obscenities, including the N-word. Anderson said he told the student multiple times not to call him that, repeating the slur during the confrontation.
He was fired Wednesday.
Anderson said he was just trying to defend himself and that context matters. The Madison teachers union has filed a grievance with the district on his behalf.
During his time at East and West high schools, Anderson said students have used that slur against him "many times," and that it has resulted in "restorative conversations" in which he explains the history, context and meaning of the word.
Last school year, at least seven Madison School District staff members resigned or were fired after using a racial slur in front of students.
West Principal Karen Boran said the zero-tolerance approach has been applied consistently.The district school board president, Gloria Reyes, said in a statement Friday that she wants the board to review its policy on racial slurs as soon as possible. She said she also has directed district staff to handle Anderson's grievance quickly.
"This is an incredibly difficult situation, and we acknowledge the emotion, harm and complexity involved," she said. "Many people in our community and our district are grappling with that complexity, and we will continue to do so as we go forward."
Superintendent Jane Belmore issued her own statement saying the zero-tolerance policy is designed to protect students from harm, no matter what the circumstances or intent. But she added that "different viewpoints" from the community are emerging and the district will review the policy in light of Anderson's grievance.
To be clear, the title I chose for this post is not a question. It is a statement. I am trying to describe what is wrong with us as a nation. This example I present for your considertaion is not an isolated incident by any means. I will also state up front that this travisty, in my opinion, is a product of leftist policies.
Assuming this article is reasonably accurate, a school guard was fired for saying " a word which must not be uttered". The guard was not fired because of bad behavior, handling the situation improperly or using the word in a derogatory or pejorative manner. He was fired for actually uttering the word "nigger."
Now, admittedly, the article is somewhat lacking in what was actually said between the guard and the student but it seems, as I am lead to believe by the article, that the guard said something amounting to " you shouldn't call people niggers." And he got fired for that. Apparently, the school district thinks that the guard perhaps should have said "the N-word" rather than the actual word perhaps? If so, why? Does the school board feel that, should an employee actually use the dictionary recognized word "nigger" anyone who hears it will fall into a coma? Need years of therapy?
The guard, presumably less educated than those on the school board, had it exactly right. Context matters. The guard did not did not repeat a racial slur. A racial slur is some word said in order to denigrate another. What the guard did was refer to a word used in such a manner. Not the same thing at all. If simply saying the word, whether audibly or in the written word, was an actual racial slur, we need to sue whoever owns the various dictionaries.
To fire this guy because he actually used a real word, rather than some stupid pretend word like "the N-word" scares the crap out of me. What English speaking person who hears someone say " the N-word" doesn't automatically and involuntarily translate that into "nigger"? And if that's true, why to we pretend the Emperor is wearing clothes when he's butt nekkid?
This guy is potentially going to have his life destroyed because of some thoughtless application of a politically correct meme. There is no context in which calling someone a nigger is right or okay. Not even the "what's up, my niggah" we so often see in film. It's just plain wrong. But it is beyond insane to treat the mere utterance of the word, regardless of context, as akin to an act of pedophilia.
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It certainly does, and even the students recognize this. Why in the hell don't adults?
Yea, but all it really does is sort of give one a more enhanced and accurately depicted longer version of all that did which transpire in an event that has resulted in 'A Normal Reaction' that most any ADULT could see was a NON OFFENSIVE RESPONSE, to AN OFFENSIVE SLUR hurled at the Security Guard who exampled by command that which Should/Would be the typical response by any correcting adult.
It is ridiculous tip toein around the word nigger, when using it as the example for which you are addressing a juvenile offender of some sort, who has just called you a nigger.
School board sounds like an asswholesum group.
Reinstate the damn guard, and try acting like the Adults you pretend to be.
Gotta Protect our Nations Future ?
Kids do get away with much, much, much. TO MUCH these days. Back when, it actually would have been the kids fault first. "Respect" for adults and all that. They probably woulda gotten an ass spanking right then and there back in the day too.
Fucking idiots.
So this is what happens when common sense goes out the window. Tell me what did the kid get for using this language? It sounds like nothing. So their zero-tolerance policy means nothing, since it was not even applied, was it? What it did do, was get Mr. A fired, which is totally ridiculous.
I taught for over 20 years in a tough inner city school. My students were never allowed to use that term in my class or out on the playground in my presence. You must learn respect for yourself before you can have it for anyone else and they knew that was my POV, since I made it rule 1 on day one.
Give Mr. A back his job.
As for what is wrong with us... we have two extremes in this country, one who sees racism and bigotry everywhere and one that thinks it's totally gone. Neither is true. These extremist are trying to scare regular Americans and they are doing a fine job.
Was wondering the same thing. I've looked at a few other articles but nothing says what happened to the student. All I found out was that the student was apparently being escorted out for threatening to beat up the principal. Or maybe it was vice-principal. I'm sure many of the readers of these articles have the same question. Seems strange such an obvious question is ignored. Frustrating.
Imo blaming leftist policy is a cop out.
I understand the actual need for such a rule. The problem seems to be having standards for the school employees and no similar standards for students.
Again, my opinion, this is what happens when they take away bargaining rights and arbitration. (which I could blame on rightist policy)
How about not firing the man on a perfunctory execution of a general policy ('do not utter a racial slur word') until after you review the given the specific circumstances of the case?
Officials are supposed to use their brains. If no judgment is allowed then we might as well use clerks and save the cost of the highly paid official salaries.