HALTOM CITY, Texas: A school superintendent will apologize and instructors will receive cultural sensitivity training after a teacher repeatedly used a racial slur during a lesson meant to prepare students to read Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn."
Ibrahim Mohamed, 17, was the only black student in the Richland High School English class last week in which students were supposed to discuss hurtful statements and how context can affect a word's meaning. The word "nigger," frequently referred to as the "N-word" because of its painful history and association with slavery, was listed along with other emotionally charged words on the chalkboard.
The teacher "badgered" Mohamed after denying his request to remove the slur from the chalkboard or change it to the "N-word," and she continued to say the word during class, said his mother, Tunya Mohamed. The teen said that he felt singled out when the teacher asked whether the word offended him and that she told him, "'It hurts, doesn't it?'"
The lesson was supposed to prepare students to read the 1884 Mark Twain novel, which includes the slur. It is part of a new curriculum designed to put such words in proper historic context and was not meant to be offensive, Birdville school district officials said.
Birdville Superintendent Stephen Waddell agreed to issue a written apology to the teen and his family and arrange sensitivity training for faculty, said Thomas Muhammad, spokesman of a group called Coalition to Stop the N-Word.
The district in suburban Fort Worth has allowed Mohamed to enroll in a different English class. Officials have since removed the book from the class, but his parents say they will request its removal from the district's curriculum.
"Texas school official to apologize after racial slur used in 'Huckleberry Finn' lesson" The Associated Press, Thursday, November 1, 2007
No comments:
Post a Comment