A elementary school principal has been temporarily removed from her duties in the North Kitsap School District in Washington state, but after some long and hard  thought, I am not sure who is actually to blame here as more details come to light.

The crux of the matter is this: Claudia Alves, principal at Poulsbo Elementary School, said the n-word to a biracial 5th grade student.  Now, before you get outraged, here is the more complete version of the story.

A fifth grade class was rehearsing a play about Martin Luther King, Jr., in which the word “negro” is used.  Apparently, the students in the class were either confused or upset (the district is currently refusing to comment, and the information for the news article is coming from the aggrieved parent involved) about using the word negro, because they were unsure if it was the actual n-word.  The upset parent who took this to the media, Shawna Smith (who is a white woman married to a black man) says that her son refused to be in the play and that other students would “look at him and another student” whenever the word was used.

Finally, after acting up during one of the play’s performances, Smith’s son got sent to the principal’s office, where he was told by Principal Alves that “negro” was not the same word as n***er, and yes, she actually said the real word.  She then repeated said word in conversations with the boy’s parents (after they were informed by him that the principal had actually said THE word), and so the district superintendent gave Alves a leave of absence.  According to the superintendent, Patty Page, n***er should never be spoken by a district employee, ever, not even when explaining the context of the word.

This whole situation has me baffled, because no one involved seems to have any common sense left.

Let’s start with the 5th grade kids and their belief that “negro” could potentially be THE n-word.  On one hand, society has done a good job banishing that word to the context of history.  On the other hand, what good does that do us when we can’t even explain the word to kids in that historical context?  If Mrs. Smith’s son had a problem with the word negro, why did he never tell his parents about it?  And why did he feel like, after being excused from participating in said play about Dr. King, he should get to act up and be disruptive during the play?

For those out there who are wondering why “negro” should even be used, Dr. King used that particular word 15 times in his iconic “I Have A Dream” speech.  It’s kind of hard to have a play about Dr. King without using that particular speech, I’d think.

Next, let’s move on to Principal Claudia Alves.  If what is reported is to be believed, she used the n-word in a teaching moment, in trying to explain the differences in these words.  This is, after all, a school, and not a game of Taboo.  She did not use the word in a derogatory manner, or call the student a n***er (and you can bet the story would be all about that if she had).  However, if I had been in her shoes, I think I might just have let the student sit in her office until his mother showed up, and had that conversation with both of them, not just him.  And then let the mother do the explaining.  However, hindsight is always 20/20.

The parents are also at fault here, as Matthew and Shawna Smith are the ones talking to the media.  They want “sensitivity training” for district employees.  Perhaps they would like to ban a few books as well, like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, or Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (which I read as a 6th grade student myself) , or perhaps they would like to censor some history about the civil rights movement, or American icons and heroes like Dr. King, Frederick Douglass, George Washington Carver or Jackie Robinson (and for goodness sake, don’t let any kid ever see the movies Glory, Gods and Generals, or 42).  And have they checked the music out there that their child might be exposed to at some point?  These parents ought to be much more concerned about the number of rappers and musicians using the n-word than this one school principal.  But it’s okay, because they say they have “no intention” of suing the district.  Good to know!

And finally, there is Superintendent Patty Page.  Maybe she would like to join in the book banning and historical censorship as well.  To make the inane statement that the n-word should never be used by any district employee, EVER, not even to explain it, tells me quite a lot about her perception of what an “education” really is.

At every point along the line in this story, someone had the chance to deflate the situation and inject a little common sense.  Everyone failed.  And education has failed, because no one has learned anything, except that you have to be politically correct at all times, and in all ways – even when history itself isn’t.