How should a history teacher handle the "N" word?
- Thread starter ♪alt13
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I guess he could be lying but he said he showed the PG version of the movie. I personally would never do that in his position because of the potential back lash, which he received. I do not think what he did is something he should be fired for. I also think the mother being interviewed does not know what happened and her son probably tried to make big deal out of it to her based on her quotes about this incident.
How about classic literature like Huck Finn? Gone With The Wind? Uncle Tom's Cabin? To kill a mockingbird? Of Mice and Men? Grapes of Wrath? From Here to Eternity? At what age do you think school aged children should be required to read these?
To me, being taught what the word means and what it stands for is preferable to attempting to scrub it from our history by trying to hide it from jr. high aged children. And using the term "N-word" seems sophomoric at best. In sex ed class does the school prefer the teacher use terms like the "P-word" and "V-word" when describing human anatomy? No, it is a serious discussion deserving of adult words. The teacher in this story appears to have been trying to educate his students and have an adult conversation. As long as he was not using the word ****** in a derogatory manner and explaining why it is such a hateful word and should never be used in such a manner I have no problem with it.
Then again this just may be my "white privilege" talking out my ***...
To me, being taught what the word means and what it stands for is preferable to attempting to scrub it from our history by trying to hide it from jr. high aged children. And using the term "N-word" seems sophomoric at best. In sex ed class does the school prefer the teacher use terms like the "P-word" and "V-word" when describing human anatomy? No, it is a serious discussion deserving of adult words. The teacher in this story appears to have been trying to educate his students and have an adult conversation. As long as he was not using the word ****** in a derogatory manner and explaining why it is such a hateful word and should never be used in such a manner I have no problem with it.
Then again this just may be my "white privilege" talking out my ***...
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Miggs
Well-Known Member
This.
Well that is your opinion. I do not know where you are from but I grew up in Utah and Glory was a standard in 8th or 9th grade jr high history. We was all sent home w a permission slip for mommy and daddy to sign. Pretty sure that movie was a big reason I did not become more racist like most Utahans were in the 70's 80's and 90's. Being exposed to the nastiness in life helps us grow as childs. Are you going to say next that penis and vagina should not be spoke in 5th grade sex ed? Or that drivers ed should not scare the living day lights out of students w graphic stories of car crashes?
Sheltering is seldom the right policy
I did not ever read this before responding. You took the words out of my mouth!
I think we need a law requiring the media to stay out of situations like this and another creating a state commission who counter sews these fools like the parent and Taggart. Like that dumb bitch Saratoga Springs mom of the sword kid who died. Okay so your son swings at police and posts on Facebook that he is going to commit suicide by police. We offer you a million dollars to shut up? How about we put you in prison. That will solve these outrageous claims. You know it is bad when the posts on sltrib are all against this.
Things like this kind of bother me. Like Scat said, I don't think the correct answer is to bury our heads in the sand and pretend that some words don't exist or some events never happened. I feel this way whenever I hear of another 100+ year old Confederate monument coming down. I don't agree with what happened, but maybe by studying it out and trying to understand what they were thinking I can broaden my own way of thinking. Or I guess I can always run to my "safe place" where nobody can hurt me. I think people need to be really careful when they start whitewashing (can I even say that anymore?) history.
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Deleted member 848
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I think school is probably the best environment for the history of the n-word to be introduced, and instructed as to why it's so damaging, and why it should never be said.
With that said I figure the best solution is consulting with black communities when trying to establish the proper curriculum with regards to civil rights, and the right way to discuss this history can be disseminated. That's probably the biggest problem here-- staff don't really know what to do with the topic, so they either avoid it altogether or stumble like this guy.
Let's come up with a comparison-- should Jewish ppl have allowed Germany to keep Hitler statues at the end of WWII in order to "understand history"?
With that said I figure the best solution is consulting with black communities when trying to establish the proper curriculum with regards to civil rights, and the right way to discuss this history can be disseminated. That's probably the biggest problem here-- staff don't really know what to do with the topic, so they either avoid it altogether or stumble like this guy.
Let's come up with a comparison-- should Jewish ppl have allowed Germany to keep Hitler statues at the end of WWII in order to "understand history"?
Well, I think HOME is the best environment for that, but I think school is ALSO a good environment. I just disagreed that 8th grade was the proper time. 11th grade? Sure. Maybe even 10th grade.
I didn't realize there was a PG version of the movie. I'd actually be quite surprised if the n-word was allowed in the PG version, but I could be wrong. One of the parents was quoted in the article as saying "Frye believes her son was shown the R-rated version." That's what I was assuming when I wrote my reply.
I stand by my initial opinion that an 8th grade teacher shouldn't be showing movies with the n-word in them. Or s-word, or f-word, for that matter. But clearly the right thing to do, if the teacher felt he just HAD to show the movie, would have been to send a permission slip home explaining that the movie would be shown, the historical context of the word as used in the movie, why the movie is important for the class goals, and requiring a parental signature for permission. And obviously allowing students an alternate activity if their parents disapproved.
There's a HUGE difference between allowing students to read something, and REQUIRING them to read something. Those were all in my school library. Huck Finn was REQUIRED, and contains the n-word. It was not required of 8th graders, it was required of 11th or 12th graders (can't recall which). Our teacher told us why he was requiring it, and warned us that the n-word was used, much like it sounds like this junior high teacher did. The difference is age and maturity of the students, 8th graders compared to 11th or 12th graders.
Jumping from my opinion that a movie with the n-word not be REQUIRED of 8th graders, to a suggestion that I'm in favor of banning all books for all students, is despicable.
I'm OK with that. But that doesn't seem to have been the case here.
I get what you are saying. I read the book To Kill a Mockingbird when I was probably around 8 years old. It was on our bookshelf and I just picked it up looking for a book to read. I absolutely loved the book and probably re-read it another 5-6 times before I was 18 years old. It played a huge role in forming my opinions of how people of all races should be treated.
jimmy eat jazz
Well-Known Member
The N word is becoming kind of the new F word in terms of its use in polite society.
It isn't, however, like the F word. The N word has very important historical context and can and should be used to teach students about how language is one of the many tools of oppression. In contrast, the F work has no instructional value. So, while the latter should be barred from any classroom discussion, the former has useful pedagogical value, and I think its suppression goes overboard at times (kind of like the city employee who got canned for using the word 'niggardly' even though it has absolutely no connection with the N word.
However, like the F word, I'd advise any teacher in any context to avoid its use. It's potential for getting you in trouble far outweighs any instructional value it might have.
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Deleted member 848
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if you want more consistency and efficacy across a population of >300 million, it's foolish to leave it solely at the hands of parents. Not everyone's father has a PhD & I doubt you have access to the opinions and resources that an educational system would have after consulting the right studies and professionals who are educated in the matter. When's the last time you spoke to a black intellectual and asked him how to teach your children about the n-word? Could you disseminate it better? Perhaps. But not all could.
*****
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Me, too. Note that I didn't say solely the parents anywhere in my post.