A Kentucky English teacher was preparing her class to read To Kill a Mockingbird when she decided to give them an assignment about the N-word because of its use in the book.
The seven-question assignment asked students to write about how much they agreed or disagreed with such statements as:
“N****r is a derogatory word.”
“It is acceptable for a Black person to say N****r.”
“It is acceptable for a white/nonblack person to say N****r.”
Kiarah Raglin, one of the students in the class, said that she felt uncomfortable and was not sure what to do with the assignment. “Everyone kind of laughed, it was a nervous laugh and then we kind of sat there and asked each other, ‘Did this really happen?’” she recalled.
— Louisiana bar stamps ‘n****r’ on college student’s hand —
“I felt sorry for her to be in this classroom with a predominantly white classroom with a Caucasian teacher standing over her, using these words over and over. These are not words that we use in our home. These are not words that we use. Everybody likes to say ‘your music.’ These are not words that my child is accustomed to,” said her mother, Andrew Raglin.
Andrea went on to add that the assignment distracted from the whole point of the book they are studying.
“The whole entire point of the book was missed because of this assignment and seven questions specifically on this word, as opposed to other parts of the book that should’ve been discussed as well,” she said.
Principal Bryne Jacobs told WKYT that school officials only heard about the assignment after the story went viral but said, “We own the mistakes that happen. We apologize. We address them so that they do not happen again.”
