Chicago Teacher Who Used Racial Slur Deserves Praise Not Suspension

I find the Teacher has a strong point. Our society is afraid of talking about any real issue. If your not a robot and follow the data plan out you go. And we call this democracy.

Many blacks, of which I am one, will support this man. Fire the principal. Support good teachers. Nothing wrong with what the instructor did. Hyper-sensitivity will kill the learning process.

I am black. Mr Brown should sue. We as black people should have a more open mind to situations such as this. If you start teaching them in the sixth grade, or before, the bad connations of why we should not use the N word among ourselves, or in our music, or as a sign of affection for our men, that is a GOOD thing. He should be welcomed back on his job

Here we go again running away from the truth. The N word is used by so many blacks as if it’s embedded in our vocabulary. Let me get this straight the class was a sixth grade language arts anti-racism lesson. Mr. Brown was using an out of the box method to show why the N word is problematic. Mr. Brown should be commended for being bold to even approach the subject. I am a black man, and find the way some blacks so freely use that word when addressing one another is painful. I do not know the complete story, but I would have spoken with the teacher to get the full scope of his lesson. Again he should have been commended for taking on such a bold subject, some White teachers would have shy away and not bother. They would have just told themselves that it’s a black thing, and that word is ok with blacks or they would not use it so much. We are in a fight to save our young people, specially our young men to return to ethics, values and respect. Mr. brown for taking that stand in trying to teach why words have the power to leave a positive or negative affect, I take my hat off to you. I hope you win your law suit.

This is an absolutely ridiculous situation. I don't blame Mr. Brown for suing. We have got to get a grip. How was the man supposed to teach a lesson without using the word? He was simply trying to educate his students and explain why the word is so derogatory and hateful. After all, kids hear this word in music, on the streets and from some of our own people. Why wouldn't they be confused? This sort of thing just makes it harder to have meaningful discussions on race. Shame on that principal.

As my husband said, it's the principal being racist not the teacher. The teacher teaching about this as being wrong would seem to prove he was teaching anti-racism.

The principal should be in trouble here for being too stupid to run a school, not the teacher for DOING HIS JOB. Props to him for trying to actually educate our youth and not just cramming the kids' heads full of textbooks and boring lectures.

Sounds like the principal needs a history lesson....the principal should be suspended

As long as there is a double-standard where blacks are allowed to use the n-word freely while whites are fired for even discussing it, the senseless hatred will continue. The black community needs to police itself and make it "uncool" to use the word. It needs to start with entertainers who routinely use it, especially comedians and rappers.

The word abounds in rap music, and entertainment mogul and rap thugs make millions doing so, but a TEACHER can't place the word in a historical context and TEACH about it?

This story is Exhibit A on why black America is so dysfunctional. You can say this here, but not there, you can be outraged if x is said there, but not if x is said here - but of course, even these outlandish rules are further warped if white Americans want to create a teachable moment.

Why is it that white Americans now have to teach the irresponsibility of using the word - while black America is stuck in absurd dysfunction.

This teacher was fired? Are you kidding me?

Gregory Mason should be fired because he can't get over the "N" word. He has no business running a school. Mr Brown should be reinstated immediately and Mr Mason should be shown the door.

SUSPEND the horses' #$%$ of a principal! Let HIM be the one to hit the unemployment line. This kind of bigot (or reverse racism if that's what you want to call it) does NOT belong in our schools. Get rid of him!!!!!

As a former teacher it sounds as if Mr. Brown was presenting an important lesson--challenging students to think for themselves.

I support Brown. When one of my daughters was in fourth grade, she had never heard this word and obv. didn't know what it meant. Another child referred to "the n word" and she asked what the kid was talking about. Another kid at the table spelled it for her and she sounded it out, out loud. Then someone raised a ruckus trying to get her in trouble for saying a racist word. Her teacher was smart enough to see through the troublemaker's behavior, but the story highlights the distinction between using the word in an educational context to teach people - who otherwise may not know- why it's offensive and saying it in other contexts. Simply calling it "the n word" isn't enough when talking to someone unfamiliar with the word. And BTW same kid of mine for years thought "the s word" her friends referred to instead of swearing meant "stupid." How are kids supposed to learn if teachers can't teach? I didn't allow her to call people stupid, so she assumed...

i find it ridiculous that blacks can throw the word around at each other with no consequence as well as cracker and whitey while a situation such as this exists in the schools. guess it depends on who is discriminating.

These are the types of lawsuits I don't mind, and I hope he gets a nice chunk of money, which leads to the suspension of the 'racist' principal. I, too, had a negative experience with a 'black,' racist principal, and even though I wasn't suspended by my district, their actions led to me not wanting to teach anymore. I still have ex-students telling me how they miss me, and how they never understood math until they were in my class, and I always went out of my way to help them in any way that I could: food, clothing, shoes, parents bills, gas money, college tuition, baby bed, car seats; if I could make it happen, I would. Sadly, the school was a predominantly 'black' school, and God was allowing me to be a blessing to many underprivileged teens until Mrs. 'Judas Iscariot' came in. I hope this negative experience doesn't cause another GREAT teacher to leave the profession.

Rap singers, comedians and Samuel Jackson encourage the use of that word and then complain when whities use it.

American society is funny. The "n-word" is so taboo, we can't even say it or discuss it. If I type it here then my message would get quickly deleted. But it's OK to say Cracker, Spic, and Chink.

Moral to the story----Freedom of speech only covers the---N--- word when blacks use it.

I am an african american female who has been called this word. It did not bother me, it is just a word. I pray for the poor fool who chooses to use the word because obviously they are not at peace with their own life. If the teacher was using the word to educate his class, then nothing was wrong with it and shame on the principal for doing wrong. Right is right and wrong is wrong, no matter social class, race, gender, or anything else. As Don Henly sang, "evil is still evil in anybody's name".