A High School Teacher In Virginia Was Fired For Using The N-Word In A Historical Context

Fox News- An online petition has gathered more than 1,300 signatures on behalf of a popular Virginia high school teacher who was kicked out of the classroom earlier this month for using a racial slur.

The petition claims history teacher Lynne Pierce, who is white, did nothing wrong when she uttered the “N-word” during a discussion with her students at Heritage High School in Newport News about racism, derogatory terms and the nickname of the Washington Redskins. Heritage is 90 percent black.

“She is a history teacher, she cannot be censored for teaching terms and beliefs that people had throughout history,” the petition says.

Pierce, a teacher for 40 years, landed in hot water Sept. 18 when a student in her Advance Placement U.S. History class brought up the Redskins and asked her what was the big deal.

"The kids kept saying, 'It's no big deal, it's a football team,'” Pierce told the Newport News Daily Press Thursday. “I said, 'How would you feel if people had a team named after another group?'"

WTKR-TV reported Thursday that Pierce then said to the class, “What would you think if someone started a team called the Newport News N----r?”



You know what, maybe it's not the worst thing in the world that this was teacher was fitting N-bombs into the lesson plan. In case you haven't spent any time on the internet over the last 5-10 years, it's become pretty goddamn evident that a bunch of suburban white kids don't have any concept of how historically relevant that reprehensible word happens to be. In fact, I would say a majority of white kids probably hear it in a hip-hop song before they are even taught what it means. Maybe it behooves them to have an educator step into their lives and open their eyes to the discrimination that still exists in society. Wait, what's that you say? Heritage High School is 90% black? Oh well, sorry Mrs. Pierce, I tried my best. Pretty sure a bunch of black high school children know exactly what the N-word represents, and don't need an elderly white lady to try to explain her completely lucid use of it.

I'll give Lynne credit. If you are going to use the N-word in a classroom than she picked a pretty valid way to use it. Not only wasn't it used in a derogatory context, but for those that weren't too busy becoming offended, it actually made her point crystal clear. Unfortunately for her, while she may have won her argument, she undoubtedly has to lose her job. There is just no way to justify using that word in front of a group of black people in 2015. Life and learn. Next time, you'll steer clear of racial debates with teenagers. Especially a bunch of teenagers that probably weren't even paying attention to you until you used a word that they couldn't possibly ignore. I bet that looked like a scene from every racially charged movie when the music cuts out and everyone stares at the one white person in the room in wide eyed amazement. Her comparison was better suited for being whispered in the back corner of a loud bar between friends while watching the Redskins game. Debating the mascot of a team that a majority of your young, unintelligible students are more than likely fans of is never going to work out in your favor. Hell, if I grew up a New Jersey Nazis fan I would have defended the swastika on their jersey at least until I grew hair on my balls. Teenagers are hard headed. This woman was fighting a losing battle. A battle so impossible to win that her only chance at victory was to use the most commonly used racial slur known to man. The only lesson to be learned here is that sometimes methods of teaching can be too progressive for those which they are intended. Lynn Pierce may very well be a great teacher, but she clearly never learned how to read a room.