To think the head teacher should never have said the N word

[LittleMissMe99]

For context the head teacher of my children's secondary school decided to address racism by saying the N word. She actually said that she had asked permission from the other teachers to say the word....they're all white.

I'm literally gobsmacked. So AIBU to think she shouldn't have said it even if it was "teaching" kids not to say it?

You responded to NewMum305

"You don't want it said, maybe stop advertising it in some glamorous rap video FFS. It's really not rocket science. Kids will emulate what they hear. Is it okay for a white kid to sing along to the song and use it then?? Or can only black kids sing along to those songs."

You missed out the work people because I am fairly certain that NewMum305 is not responsible for any black rapper that has used the N word. Black rappers are not one homogenous mass nor a hive mind. Countless black individuals on this thread have said that it is not acceptable and yet you persist.

FWIW I didn't attempt to make you look racist. You articulated your self well enough for any black person or ally to make up their own minds on that one. I am struggling to understand how not being able to use a racial slur oppresses the white children you speak of whilst benefiting the black ones. I would be more worried about possibility that I might be sending my children out into the world with a sense of privilege and entitlement which should be relegated to the dark ages.

If your children don't know the n word, then you don't need to tell them what it is.

If your child doesn't know the c word, you don't tell them what it is, do you?

My children know not to use swear words. If I heard them using one, i just told them not to use it. I didn't need to provide them with a list at any point.

The 'they need to know what it is' line is complete nonsense. If they ask you what it means you can explain that it's a derogatory term for black people that is very very offensive.

You don't sit your kids down and say 'Right darling, today I'm going to teach you about the word 'fuck' and it's many applications' do you?

I’m white, and part of me thought “well, if ever there’s an appropriate context, it’s in an educational setting”.

However, it seems quite possible that it would have made black students uncomfortable and I was certainly able to learn that the word was offensive, and why it was offensive, without a teacher/head teacher using it to grab attention.

I am struggling to understand how not being able to use a racial slur oppresses the white children you speak of whilst benefiting the black ones

Don't be absurd. No one said anything about being oppressed, but there you are with your agenda again.

I said NO ONE should be using the word, but whilst it's out there in popular vernacular because of the rap music that glorifies it, which children will listen to, maybe having a discussion about the word and why it shouldn't be said DESPITE some sections of society thinking it's okay for some and not for others.

Black people can use the n word because it refers to them.
Also, have you heard about reclaiming language?

A Black person can choose to use it or not use it (which includes using it in rap music) but it isn't for a non-black person to make that choice.

I think you could have referred to the N word and why it is offensive without saying it.

As for black male musicians (usually) seeking to reclaim the word, many of them seem to be homophobic and/or misogynist.

No agenda, just utter frustration.
Why white people shouldn't use the N word and why they shouldn't get a say in the debate over it.

No-one is going to get arrested or lose their job for using the c word (excluding certain employment!)

My kids most definitely swear when they are with their friends. They know not to use racial slurs because I've sat down and spoken to them about it. It most probably came up from hearing a song or a book they read.

THANK YOU 🙏

Sorry but calling a woman a cunt in the workplace absolutely would carry significant consequences. As it should.

But you're avoiding the point: people don't need to hear prohibited words spoken out loud in order to know what to say. There's no other slur where we feel the need for children to hear their teacher saying the word in order for them to be educated about it. So why this one?

Should teachers also use the F word about gay men, or dyke about lesbian so that kids know what not to say?

It sounds from what you've said that she was telling the whole school that this offensive word, which was being said by some of the students, needed to stop immediately and was educating them on why the word was so offensive and not just like another swear word or rude word.

The children who did not know what word she was speaking about wouldn't have known what "the N word" meant. In the context of actually educating the children about the offensiveness of the word in question, but she had to say the word so there was no question in any of those children's mind about what word she was talking about.

Children are crafty and if she'd had an ambiguous assembly about "the N word", there would have been some children who wold decide that "no" was the forbidden N word and would have continued to throw racial slurs around the playground having found a loop in what the teacher said. The fact she told them exactly which word she was speaking about in the context of having a whole-school assembly to stop the use of the word, shows she was taking positive action to address the use of racial slurs in the school, even if it meant having to say the word just once to make sure every child in that room knew what she was talking about.

Sorry but this is nonsense.

The idea that if a child used the N-word after an Assembly which said that racial slurs, including the N word (but without saying that word out loud), the school would have to just throw its hands up and say 'well, we can't do anything because they were crafty and claim they don't know what the word means' is absolute rubbish.

Again, schools manage to discipline students for using inappropriate language in every other context without having to specify what those words are or without saying them out loud.

This thread is so depressing. The racism on this site is fucking atrocious. No it wasn't acceptable for her to use that word. It blows my mind that so many people on this thread don't think it's an issue.

I guess it's showing us why Black Lives Matter is needed as much now as it was two years ago

As Ricky Gervais said: just because you offended ,it doesnt mean your right

I'm offended by your spelling and grammar.

Are we taking advice on racial matters from a white man? Interesting.

This thread is giving me Diversity Day flashbacks

It was about about offence in general .nice try though.

In all fairness this post was started by a white woman getting offended on behalf of another race when nothing offensive was said. It wasnt aimed at nobody and it was about anybody.

A previous post by me was deleted because it contained a link to song where a white rapper uses that would and it was not offensive. Probably reported because it made a point that went against the majority of opinions

Why not.... I hear it often enough in music.... but non blacks can't use it?

Cause they . I've heard in music by non black artist all the time

*Of course they can

why do you want to use the word? talk me through that.

would you consider yourself a racist? talk me through your insistence on using this word