Tag: racial slurs
Prominent professor says grandson called N-word at elementary school
A prominent Georgetown University professor claims his 6-year-old grandson was called the N-word and threatened with a gun at his school in Washington, DC.
The incident, involving Michael Eric Dyson’s grandson Maxem, happened in the lunchroom Tuesday at Horace Mann Elementary School, DC Public Schools officials told Fox 5 DC.
Dyson, who teaches sociology at Georgetown and frequently speaks about race relations on TV, said the other student who allegedly hurled the slur and threats is a first-grader who is white.
“He says, ‘I’m going to go home and get my father’s gun and come back and shoot you,’” Dyson told Fox 5. “Unfortunately this represents for us the deep and abiding roots of white supremacy that are set loose in this country. How can a 6-year-old kid know to call his classmate the N-word?”
He said the confrontation occurred when Maxem and the other student rushed to be first in line.
The other child was allowed to finish out the school day, “which is incredible to me,” said Dyson.
District spokesman Shayne Wells said a threat was made but officials are working to determine whether a slur was also used.
The student was spoken to by the principal and officials are now determining appropriate discipline. They also plan to meet with the child’s parents.
Dyson provided an update on Twitter following a meeting Wednesday with Maxem’s parents, the other student’s parents, school officials and police.
“I’m glad to report none of them were defensive. They owned up immediately to what happened, were horrified themselves about the situation and behavior and have pledged not only to address this particular incident, but an institutional response to systemic problems of race and violence that need to be addressed,” Dyson said in a video posted on Twitter.
The scholar urged others to share similar stories.
“Send me your stories, I want to use my platform to advocate for you,” he said.
In a statement, the district said, “We will provide Mann the support it needs to adequately address this issue and continue to partner with our school communities to ensure meaningful learning and positive interactions occur within all of our school buildings.”
via: https://nypost.com/2019/05/01/prominent-professor-says-grandson-called-n-word-at-elementary-school/
Photo Credit: Photo By Karl Gehring/The Denver Post via Getty Images
Hospital employee fired for calling doughnut shop worker the N-word in video
A Mississippi Baptist Medical Center employee has been fired after video of him calling a doughnut shop worker a racial slur multiple times went viral.
Kyle Thomas worked in the radiology department at the medical center in Flowood, Miss.
On Saturday, he visited the local Donut Palace in his full scrubs and he got into an altercation with shop employee Keaundrea Wardlaw.
According to Wardlaw, Thomas was upset about the service and the two began to argue.
In the video Wardlaw recorded, Thomas is heard telling Wardlaw, a black woman, to “shut her f–king mouth,” and then proceeds to call her the N-word multiple times.
Wardlaw responds by calling Thomas a “b—h“ and later follows Thomas out to his car, where she records his license plate number.
The video has since gone viral, pulling in thousands of negative reactions demanding Thomas be let go from his job.
In a now-deleted Facebook post, Thomas tried to defend his actions, writing, “I am so sorry, there is nothing I can say that will change what I said. I drove back up there and tried to apologize and she had gone. I regret every word that I said there is no excuse to ever say these horrible things. I only hope that by me sharing a public apology in this incident you could show me some grace. I was upset about another issue and it spilled over into this and I can’t apologize enough,” Yahoo Lifestyle reported.
Wardlaw confirmed to WJTV that Thomas came back to apologize to her boss for causing a scene, but did not apologize to her. According to WJTV, Wardlaw said she would have accepted an apology from Thomas.
However, Twitter users did not believe the apology.
Ayoka Pond, a spokesperson for the hospital, said in a statement to Fox News that Thomas’ actions do not represent the hospital and confirmed that he had been fired.
“We are aware of the confrontation captured on video involving one of our off-duty employees at a local donut shop. We take this situation very seriously. This employee’s language and behavior does not represent our organization’s values and his employment has been terminated.
“We want our patients, employees, physicians and our community to know that we find the language used in the video to be completely unacceptable and inconsistent with what we expect from employees or anyone associated with our organization. We are committed to a work environment that is inclusive and where everyone is respected and valued.”
The Donut Shop also released a statement announcing its zero-tolerance policy for racist behavior.
“I am extremely disappointed and disgusted at what took place this past Saturday. It was shocking and painful to watch this footage and imagine what Ms. Wardlaw must have felt at the time. Regardless of the grievances people have or anything that may have happened prior to this incident, no one deserves to be treated this way. We have zero tolerance for this type of behavior, and we will support Ms. Wardlaw in whatever action she chooses to take as a result,” the Donut Shop wrote on Facebook.
Wardlaw claims she did not want the man to be fired but felt Thomas should be held accountable for using the N-word, she told WJTV.