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Outrage as California middle school teacher uses the N-word and forces student to repeat it

The teacher used the N-word 15 times and said that it is in the dictionary and people are 'oversensitive' about it

THOUSAND OAKS, CALIFORNIA: A California English teacher is under fire after frequently using the n-word and encouraging a student to do the same during a class on 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'. The unidentified language arts teacher at Sequoia Middle School was talking about a well-known book by Mark Twain when one of the 219 instances of the racist epithet surfaced. 

There have been numerous recorded instances of teachers using the N-word in class. A video recording of a middle school staffer in Phoenix, Arizona, using the N-word in front of pupils went viral. Just a week ago, Sanford Graves, a White teacher at South Doyle High School in Tennessee, was suspended with pay from school for repeatedly using the N-word in class. 

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What did the teacher do?

An unnamed Black student who recorded the interaction claimed that the teacher later tried to force one pupil to repeat the racial slur. "The teacher got in front of the class and she was saying that the word is just an English word and everybody can say it if she wants to, it's in the dictionary, and people are oversensitive over the word," he stated.

'Say it. N****r'

In the video, the teacher taunts the student, saying, "Say it. N****r," before grinning. "Why? You're asking me, so go ahead and pronounce it: n****r." The only thing the student could do was lower his head and be quiet. Even his classmates start to laugh. The student who captured the video continued, "She was trying to force him to say the word and she repeatedly kept saying it and she had a smirk on her face. I was just thinking, 'Dang, this teacher is out of her mind.'''

'Please stop racism and verbal violence'

According to the student, the teacher allegedly used the slur about 15 times. Bianca Gibbons, a parent posted the footage to a local Facebook page on March 31. "This took place at my Daughters school in Fontana at Sequoia Middle School teacher," she wrote. "Repost[,] please stop racism and verbal violence[,] bullying[.] this teacher should be fired[.] please help share this."

The school district's statement in response was unclear regarding the circumstances surrounding the teacher's outburst. "While we acknowledge that this derogatory language comes from a novel first published in the late 1800s, and that historical context is important to consider when discussing literature, the district does not condone the language that was used in the video or using that language outside of the context of discussing the novel," they stated. Caroline Rivera, mother of two students at the school, deemed the remarks "not acceptable." She wasn't sure what the school system ought to do to punish the instructor. "Pulling the teacher out? Maybe going through training again?" stated Rivera.

Twain's novel frequently sparks debate

It occurs amid a flurry of discussions about the censorship of decades- and centuries-old publications in America and the United Kingdom. It has been discovered that the most recent literary works to be revised to remove language deemed offensive or insensitive are Agatha Christie's books. Although widely regarded as a classic, Twain's novel frequently sparks debate due to its usage of the N-word. Many of the author's Poirot and Miss Marple novels' passages have apparently undergone revisions or have been completely removed from recent printings, as per Daily Mail.

'It is more about taunting than teaching!'

Meanwhile, internet has criticized the teacher for repeatedly using the racial slur. A user tweeted, "She needs to be fired!! Even if it was in the text book it the way she handled it with sarcasm !!" Another user said, "@Sequoia_Eagles this was enough to make a student uncomfortable. I really hope you take action and assure your students are learning in a safe environment." One person wrote, "Well, she lost her job." "Well. It was literature of it time," penned a person while another user wrote, "It is more about taunting than teaching!"

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.