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A WISCONSIN SCHOOL district is rehiring a black security guard after he was fired last week for repeating a racial slur while telling a student not to use it, a union official has said.
Doug Keillor, executive director of Madison Teachers Inc, said that the union was contacted by school officials yesterday saying interim Superintendent Jane Belmore decided to rescind the firing of Marlon Anderson.
Anderson said in a Facebook post yesterday afternoon, “I’m back!!”. He said he learned of his rehiring while at his new job yesterday.
“Thank you to the 1,000 plus students for allowing your voices to be heard and to all the people from across the globe for reaching out to my family,” Anderson said in his post.
Keillor said Anderson (48) will be on paid leave as he works with the district on a transition plan back to the school.
“We are very pleased,” Keillor told The Associated Press.
In a statement to staff, Belmore said she is “prepared to take appropriate steps in the current situation”.
“I will begin to work with our administrative team to ensure that we mitigate any harm that was caused and begin the healing process and give the board time to review our practice,” Belmore said.
“Our commitment to anti-racism and to use the input from community, especially our students is unwavering,” she said.
Earlier, Madison School Board President Gloria Reyes said she asked the superintendent to rescind Anderson’s termination and to review the use of racial slurs in school.
“As we experienced a series of racial slurs last school year, we had to take a stand — that we would unequivocally protect students from harm. That we would never excuse the deep pain of this hateful, violent language, regardless of intent,” Reyes said.
But she added: “It is important that we do not harm those that we are trying to protect.”
It was unclear if Reyes was speaking for herself or the entire school board. She did not immediately return messages seeking comment yesterday.
Earlier, Anderson said he was not angry about his firing because he has received “a busload of love” from supporters.
Anderson told WMTV-TV on Sunday that he hasn’t had time to be upset because of support he has received. He said people have stopped him on the street to hug him. Students from Madison West High School also staged a walkout Friday in support.
Anderson said he was responding to a call on 9 October about a disruptive student when the student, who is black, called him obscenities, including the N-word. Anderson told the student not to call him that, repeating the slur.
The school district has said it has a zero-tolerance policy on employees using racial slurs.
Reyes had said last week she wanted the district to resolve a grievance over Anderson’s firing as quickly as possible.
The school fired Anderson last Wednesday, but the Boys & Girls Club of Dane County hired him and he started Monday.
“I didn’t have an opportunity to be mad, scared, worried or anything. I just got hit with a busload of love,” Anderson said.
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Mental that he was sanctioned in any way in the first place
@GrahamMManning: Yes, it’s remarkable how stupid some people can be, and how ridgedly they stick to the letter of the law. Most people are very poor at abstract thinking. It’s why the 10 commandments were created. Pity they missed a few!
@Sylvia O’Regan: Not being pedantic or anything, and admiring of your writing style, I humby suggest that you should replace the word “ridgedly” with rigidly.
@Sylvia O’Regan: and added a few needless ones. Prob better off if they and we had skipped the sky fairy thing entirely.
@Damien Mc Padden: too tempting, ya might try “humbly” making that editorial suggestion?
@Damien Mc Padden: Blame the predictive text on my phone. I gladly accept your compliment, though! :)
@Damien Mc Padden: Are you truly Humby?
What’s wrong with the word “no”?
No saying Jehova. JEHOVA JEHOVA!
@Liam Kennedy:
Nothing – just ask Arlene…
@The Great Unwashed: brilliant lol
@Liam Kennedy: ask my wife
America is broken
He’s very much entitled to say the word and in the context it was correct
@Barry Somers: It reminds me of the “jehovah” scene in The Life of Brian!
@Sylvia O’Regan:
But all I said was “Jehovah”!
@The Great Unwashed: but did you conjugate the verb.
@Brian Farrell: Stone him!!!
@Sylvia O’Regan:
Who threw that?? Come on, who was it??
It’s not a racial slur if black people use it.
They own the word. They earned the ownership through hundred of years of it being used against them.
Just like gay people own the three letter F-word and Irish people own paddy or mick.
@Sequoia: What about mixed race? Half white, half black. Are they only half racist when they use the word? What if you’re 1/1024th of a particular race, ala Liz Warren. Do you have 1/1024th ownership of a racial slur?
This Orwellian stuff is fascinating. Clearly it is perfectly reasonable to pit everyone against each other along arbitrary and often fluid lines of race, sex, gender, religion etc.
Utopia, here we come!
@Stephen Devlin: Jackson’s is allowed to use this.
@Sylvia O’Regan: mixed race have many versions of a racial slur. Some of which are particular offensive even amongst themselves.
@Sequoia: It doesn’t even require genes. For instance, many black people get called an Uncle Tom because they don’t exclusively stay and behave in accordance with their racial community. But everyone’s identity is a mixture of different groups, beliefs and status within the overall community. Venn diagrams, not isolated boxes.
In other words, best to treat everyone as an individual. Not as a member of a particular group. No group should have special rights over other groups. That creates division and conflict.
@Sequoia: it is if it’s used in a derogatory manner to another black person.
@Stephen Devlin: that’s A very Jacobist statement. I object.
@Sequoia: What if the other black person doesn’t want to be called it. One is an adult the other is a child.
I am an English teacher abroad.
While I feel that some words are slightly different to others.
If someone in my class above the age of 8 or so uses bad language. I just repeat it back to them.
Typically the class laughs for a few seconds and then they are disarmed of that word!
My approach is to desensitize.
Seems to work.
@Linus Robin: I REALLY wouldn’t advise trying that tactic with the word in question here but would love to know how it goes if ya do.
@GrahamMManning:
It’s all context man.
Just last week I went to watch a local football match and one of my less desirable 15 year old students screamed at me ‘what’s up N….’
I just screamed it back at him and that was the end of it!
The article above is about a black man who was fired and rehired over the use of a word.
I’m just suggesting that offensive words can be neutralized in social situations including classrooms by simply acknowledging them and moving on.
My students no longer get a kick out of bad language because they don’t get the reaction they’re expecting from me.
Anyway.
It’s just a thought on how to deal with it.
I’m not suggesting it’s fact.
@Linus Robin: missing a bit of context there cos if I screamed “ what’s up n*****” at any of my students, even in reply, I’d be in some serious trouble. Which as a teacher in Ireland is actually quite hard to manage. If you don’t mind me asking, and obviously u may, are you white and where, roughly, do you teach? Should also mention I also wouldn’t do it cos I don’t think it’s right.
@GrahamMManning: I am white. From Ireland and teaching in Vietnam.
I understand what you’re saying.
I would never encourage the use of particular language. I just find that my current approach is working.
Certainly a lot better than giving out to them or getting angry.
That just gives them more fuel.
Anyway.
Like I said.
Just a thought!
What a pile of nonsense . Good that common sense prevailed in the end
For an English teacher especially, I’m afraid your sentence structure is very poor.
Well that’s just “Crackers”.
A black student calls a black employee a N***
He says don’t call me a N***
He gets fired for saying N***
No wonder people vote for Trump. They are so sick of liberal though police.
@John Lynch: shouldn’t you be commenting on the other article? Way more apt and Trumpy.
have your say