A substitute middle school teacher in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is under fire after a seventh grader said she used a racial slur while talking to him.
The teen’s mother reported the incident to the school and the local police, accusing the educator of perpetrating a hate crime on her son.
“I was shocked, hurt,” said Brittany, the boy’s mother.
Both agencies have launched an investigation into the allegations, with the school district saying it is taking the “situation very seriously.”
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The child’s parents leaped into action immediately after the Slauson Middle School student told them what happened to him during his school day.
According to the child, whose name is being withheld because he is a minor, on Friday, May 12, the substitute overheard him casually using the N-word with a classmate and entered into the conversation using the racial epithet, WXYZ reports.
“The teacher came up to him, asked him to leave the classroom, and, on the way out of their class, she said, ‘Why are you using the N-word when you are an N-word?’” said Brittany.
There was a difference in how he used it with his friend and how the teacher used it: she pronounced the word the hard “r.”
While in the hallway, outside of the classroom, the teacher continued to say the derogatory word. Eventually, another staffer asked her to stop.
After the boy’s parents alerted the school district about the incident, the substitute, who had actually retired from teaching full-time, was placed on administrative leave.
The student returned to school on Monday, May 15, and reports he experienced retaliation from another school employee who reportedly confronted him about telling on the substitute.
According to Brittany, who prefers her last name be withheld so her son…
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