*Another “public comment” portion of a school board meeting has gone viral, this time for a white woman repeatedly using the N-word while venting frustration over her son’s suspension for using the epithet on Snapchat.
During Monday’s livestreamed Grosse Pointe school board meeting in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, the woman was baffled as to why her son was suspended, when the epithet in question was in the song he was quoting on the social media platform. A song, she said, introduced to him by his “dark chocolate auntie,” she added.
The woman began her tirade by sharing her objections to a recent diversity meeting, then started complaining about her son’s suspension, saying: “So my boy got ‘Straight Outta Compton,’ he’s into all the old-school hip-hop … and says in parody on Snapchat, which essentially got him kicked out of South [High School] for four to 10 days.”
The woman then complained about the backlash her family received.
“My address was put out there, we were threatened, and why? Because he said ni**a? I’m sorry, this happens to be in every song,” she said. “The FCC, the Jon Connors, the who’s who are in charge, n**ga … basically are allowing this and our kids…”
A Black board member then interrupts to object to her language, prompting her to apologize. “I’ll watch it, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she said.
She goes on to stress that she “intentionally” put her son in all-Black dance classes and such, because she’s “an inner city person.” But the school’s DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) “really are trying to victimize our kids,” she said. “When that happened to my son… it’s just disgraceful what they do and the bullying on social media and through the school system is not cool.”
Watch below:
Several minutes later, appalled white members of the board addressed the woman’s repeated use of the racial slur.
“In my seven years on the board, I’ve never heard anyone speak in the audience like tonight,” said board member Margaret Weertz. “I’ve never heard the n-word used in front of our colleagues here, and this is very upsetting to me … We need to be able to talk about different opinions, different politics, whatever. But we don’t disparage people. We don’t use slurs of any kind—ethnic, racial, anything. And I’m just upset and I can’t let this keep going without saying something.”
Jon Dean, the superintendent of the Grosse Pointe Public School System, added: “I, as the superintendent, need to say our school district does not tolerate language like that in any construct.
“And the argument that they can hear it somewhere else, therefore they can do it here, is one of the most enabling, offensive arguments and has led to countless atrocities in our history. So, that is really an incredibly weak argument and it is offensive.”
Greg Bowens, of the Grosse Pointes and Harper Woods branch of the NAACP, told ClickonDetroit that several livestream viewers had called the organization to complain about the incident, with some upset that more board members had not spoken out about the woman’s language.
“This idea that you see something racist right in front of your face and you don’t address it is a poor reflection on the school board and the school district because it means you don’t care,” Bowens told the outlet.
Watch ClickOnDetroit’s report on the woman here.
We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!
