Why I Won’t Read the N-word Aloud in Class
And neither should you
Words have power, as much as we might like to say otherwise. “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” is a ridiculous lie. Of course words hurt. And if we read words like the n-word in class, we are complicit, giving our students permission to use these words against each other.
Let’s get something out of the way because I think it needs to be said: I’m white. My kids are white. My husband is white and Jewish. I took his name, so I have a Jewish surname. Something I had never realized before I married him was how people might treat me differently because of my last name. I am not saying that I have experienced out-and-out bigotry or prejudice, but there have been situations since we’ve been married that have made me uncomfortable, to say the least. And it’s made me think of how my children, also having a Jewish surname, may sometimes be treated in school. I get irate when I hear about graffiti of swastikas on the doors of bathroom stalls at schools or when a kid is called “the Jew” in class (I’ve heard it first hand, and it became a major issue). Anti-semitism is something that white supremacists, both blatant and closeted, have coddled for years, just as they have touted racist ideology.
