That child is getting dangerously close to knowing some things and appreciating knowledge. Better punish it.
When you realize you’ve dug yourself into a hole, the first thing to do is STOP DIGGING.
I’m trying to decide if the school principal sees herself as Saruman or as Sauron…
So instead of making his friend disappear he made himself disappear. Obviously this kid is talented.
The principal was simply trying to keep Middle-Earth safe from Sauron.
The principal failed this test…
It should be up to parents where and when children learn that babies aren’t delivered by storks.
What might one who might be miffed about this do?
Phone numbers with which to voice displeasure: Kermit School District at (432) 586-1000, Elementary school at (432) 586-1020.
Prolly the most effective.
Well thank goodness our school officials are on the lookout for crimethink.
I used to run around cutting off classmates limbs with my imaginary light saber. Then when they tried to use the force or blast me I’d say “ha, ha, I already cut your arm off!”
Base on this story, today I’d be suspended to Guantanamo.
With the caveat that we don’t know all the facts, I hate that this school doesn’t seem to want to make use of teachable moments. If my child was suspended for calling someone black, I’d be livid. That’s not the right response. The right response is, “[child’s name], that’s not a nice thing to call someone. You can say African-American” or if you have even more time, explain that skin color doesn’t matter and shouldn’t matter. Billy is Billy Johnson, not Black Billy.
I wonder how much of this (in addition to just being stupid in general) is down to a misunderstanding of intent. “My ring can make you disappear” kind of sounds like a threat if you’re dumb and paranoid about such things and all zero tolerance… but maybe it was meant more like “My ring, if I give it to you and you put it on, can make you disappear, which would be helpful to you! (though there are extreme perils in using it and we should destroy it in the Crack of Doom as soon as possibles)!”
Suspended for calling a kid black? That’s crazy. The book thing is just as crazy. The ring bit equally nuts. So, that’s three strikes. Under Texas law, the principal is now a convicted felon, no?
If this were a racist moment that would be understandable, but this kid is being punished for using his imagination and play. It has already been a teachable moment for him; Using your imagination is a dangerous thing, akin to strapping on a beard, a bomb vest, and cutting someone’s head off.
** sorry didn’t notice the part were he did use the term “black”. Then yes the proper response would be correction before punishment.
Also this being Texas, it is no wonder they got pissed at him for bringing a book to school that wasn’t approved by the Texas educational board, there isn’t a section on creationism…
Most black people I’ve ever heard from on the subject have told me they prefer “black” to “African-American”. But I don’t think anyone regards either as a slur. Of course, we’re missing context, but I’m suspicious that the child in question may have been using the word appropriately, in a non-racist fashion.
A cursory search for “black vs african american” seems to imply that black is not actually a term most people have a problem with. In fact, in at least one of the articles, it argues that black is preferable. The argument goes, you likely wouldn’t call me European American, unless I had in fact been born in Europe before moving here. You would just call me white. Anyway, I am probably the wrong person to ask about this shrugs
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#safe=off&q=black+vs+african+american
The principal was probably just annoyed the kid was reading Tolkein instead of Rand
(hat tip to Scalzi)
They just need to bring a Tolkien ring adaptor, then he can go on the network with the other children.
Spoiler Alert, please! Thanks A LOT.
