Wednesday, January 03, 2007

you'll get beat up

So the principal calls me in to discuss an altercation Remy had in the bathroom with another kid. Turns out he was playing with a kid, and another kid got involved when he shouldn't have, and one thing led to another, the kid starts hitting Remy with the bathroom pass, and Remy calls him a "N-".

The kid--who we find out later is a big crybaby and a bully to boot--runs to the principal.

Remy explains that yes, in fact he DID call him a "N-"...but has no idea what it means. The kid is black.

"Well, how do you know this word?" asks the principal.

"Harry and Potter are always saying it." These are two black kids in the class.

The principal wisely explains what the word means, and why he shouldn't use it.

"You'll get beat up!" he tells Remy.

Later, Remy wants to know why it's ok for black kids to say it, but he can't. I really don't have a good answer for that. "It's not really ok for black kids to say it, but...well, they do, and that's their business. Just know that it's not a word we use and you will get beaten up one day if you do." He doesn't quite understand why one word has so much power. I have mixed feelings about its usage...to me, if it's wrong to say it, it's wrong for everybody to say it.

In any event, he knows now not to say it again, but he's free--when he's older--to enjoy listening to Chris Rock or Samuel L. Jackson use it in the movies.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bummer. I hate those kinds of talks.
H.

carey said...

It's kind of interesting that he picked it up from his black classmates, who say it all the time apparently. In my day, I would've learned it the old-fashioned way: from my parents.

Anonymous said...

yes, but that's because there were no black classmates to teach you!

carey said...

Well, except for Bruce, Mike or Sheila, none of whom I would imagine tossed the word around much.