In a recent article, a teacher is referred to for eliminating racism in education by correcting a student for a racial remark. It appears that this type of behavior exhibited by the teacher is acceptable across the school district. Racism in education is not a product of student to student interactions but a product of teacher to student interactions.
The student racial remark that the teacher heard was “It smells like chicken and watermelon in here”. The teacher used it as a moment to educate her class on the origin of the racial slur.
The teacher contributes to racism in education because she has effectively given the White student a pass. If it were a Black student making a racial remark towards a White teacher, the student would have received a disciplinary consequence for the racial remark.
Some of the racial remarks towards White European teachers that would have resulted in a disciplinary consequence for Black students include:
- Bule – (Indonesia) White people; literally, “albino”, but used in the same way that “colored” might be used to refer to a black person to mean any white person.
- Charlie – Mildly derogatory term used by African Americans, mainly in the 1960s and 1970s, to refer to a white person.
- Coonass or coon-ass – (U.S.) a Cajun; may be derived from the French conasse. May be used among Cajuns themselves. Not considered to be derogatory in most circumstances.
- Cracker – (U.S.) Derogatory term for whites, particularly from the American South.
- Gringo – (The Americas) Non-Hispanic U.S. national. Hence Gringolandia, the United States; not always a pejorative term, unless used with intent to offend.
- Honky (U.S.) – Offensive term for a white person.
- Medigan / Amedigan (U.S.) – Similar to “mangia cake.” A term used by Italian Americans to refer to Americans of White Anglo Saxon Protestant descent, Americans with no discernible ethnicity, or non-Italian Americans in general. Comes from Southern Italian pronunciation of the Italian word “americano.”
- Ofay – (US) a white person, unknown etymology.
- Arkie – A person from the State of Arkansas, used during the great depression to describe farmers from Arkansas looking for work else where.
- Okie – A person from the State of Oklahoma, used during the great depression to describe farmers from Oklahoma looking for work else where.
- Peckerwood – (U.S.) a white person (southerner). This word was coined in the 19th century by Southern blacks to describe poor whites.
Instead of giving students a pass for racial remarks, submit a disciplinary infraction for all students. Otherwise as a teacher, you are contributing to racism in education.
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Dr. Derrick L. Campbell, Ed.D.
www.positiveracialrelationships.com
PO Box 1668 Blackwood, NJ 08012
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