Public input wanted after teacher reportedly utters N-word in class
An emergency town hall meeting is giving people the opportunity to weigh in on how the community should respond to an incident which saw a Windsor teacher reportedly use a racist slur twice in front of students.
“There's a lot of anti-Black racism practised in all of the schools that is not dealt with in a way that leaves our children harmed in some ways,” said Leslie McCurdy, chair of the Black Council of Windsor-Essex.
Earlier this month, students spoke out after they said a teacher at Kennedy Collegiate said the N-word in class.
The teacher is said to have been expressing disapproval over the word's use in a song being played in the classroom by students.
According to students, the teacher used the word again during a separate meeting about the original incident.
“In terms of equitable treatment, the teacher should've been suspended for a day just like a student would have been suspended for a day,” said McCurdy.
The incident prompted the council to call an “emergency town hall” Saturday afternoon over Zoom where the public was invited to suggest next steps for how “people in power” and the general community should respond to the incident and seek accountability.
But, according to the council, the call-to action goes far beyond the incident at Kennedy Collegiate.
“It's a very complicated issue, the N-word, its historic use and the duality of the use that exists within the Black community and the fact that we in the Black community request that it not be used by anyone else in any way,” added McCurdy.
The Black Council is calling for the teacher to make a public apology and briefly step away from teaching to reflect on the impact of uttering the racial slur.
“Yes, Black people use the word sometimes, but we have received the same kind of cultural conditioning as everyone else,” said McCurdy.
“For any person who is non-melanated to say that word in any capacity is wrong.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
It could take years to catch up on child vaccinations in Ontario post-pandemic
Ontario is still playing catch up on routine vaccinations that many children missed during the pandemic and public health officials are warning that it could take years to solve the problem.