By Contessa Crisostomo

Staff Writer

The use of "the N word" in a high school English literature class brought ninth grader Maya Jean-Baptiste before the Board of Education at their meeting last week.

Jean-Baptiste requested that the use of the word be removed from a lesson that precedes the reading of the classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird saying she felt embarrassed.

She described her experience with her English class two weeks ago in which her teacher, referred to as Ms. Joseph, taught the "Questionable Words" lesson to her class.

Jean-Baptiste said the teacher passed out copies of the essay titled "The Meaning of a Word" by Gloria Naylor and the poem "The Incident" by Harlem Renaissance writer Countee Cullen. The students were to compare the two and underline the word "n-----" whenever it appeared in the writings.

She said when interpreting Naylor's description of a "trifling n-----," Joseph gave an example about people who don't keep their house clean.

"She also imitated the stereotypical way that black people sometimes talk to each other by moving her neck and pointing her finger as she said it," said Jean-Baptiste.

The student said the teacher's explanation caused her and her classmates to become "agitated."

School spokesman Brian Edwards said that in this case, the lesson did not go as well as it should have.

"We need to, in going forward, correct that so the lesson accomplishes the goal," said Edwards, "which is to help students understand the meaning and context of the word that they are going to be encountering in the literature."

Betsy Brown, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, said the teacher had strayed from the "highly structured" lesson.

"The essay was not to have been read aloud and teachers were not told to ask students to underline the word," said Brown. "I think the teacher was varying from the lesson plan as she determined was needed for her students."

The "Questionable Words" lesson was introduced in all high schools in 2003 to precede the reading of To Kill a Mockingbird after feedback from parents, students and teachers showed there was a need to provide context for the ninth graders.

The way the lesson plan is written, teachers are to begin with a discussion of highly controversial books that have been challenged or banned, including To Kill a Mockingbird, due to the highly charged word.

"There's discussion about highly charged words and to avoid them at all costs, or sometimes defang them or take the poison out of them by simply understanding them," said Brown.

After the context is established, then students are given the Naylor essay and Cullen poem to read silently to themselves and write a brief constructed response comparing and contrasting the two literary pieces.

The students then break into small groups to discuss the writings and then write in a journal about the discussion and what they learned from it.

School officials said this was the first complaint they've received about the lesson.

Crystal DeVance-Wilson, chair of the NAACP Parent's Council, also testified before the Board during last week's meeting and agreed with Jean-Baptiste that the lesson should not be taught in schools.

"It is unconscionable that African-Americans or any students would be subjected to the embarrassment and humiliation of hearing their teachers instruct them and their classmates on a subject that has been a significant source of contention for the African-American community," said DeVance-Wilson as she read the statement from the Montgomery County chapter of the NAACP.

The Parent's Council called for schools to "immediately abstain from teaching this content" and to "refrain from using materials that negatively depict African-Americans," said DeVance-Wilson.

Jean-Baptiste's mother, Vikki Jean-Baptiste, said she believed the use of the epithet in schools is inappropriate, that schools are not the right place to "teach our children painful words that demean and oppress others."

"The use of the word 'n-----' does not have a place in the public school system curriculum and should be removed immediately."

Brown said officials are discussing what to do next, whether it is to revise the lesson to make it "more clearly prescriptive" or even pull it from the curriculum completely.

"I think point people making is that it is a sensitive lesson and topic and what folks asking is that we consider how to support teachers and provide professional development to help teachers deal with it in a sensitive way," said Brown.

Brown, a former English teacher and department supervisor, said she still believes context is needed for students prior to reading the book.

"What people may not know about To Kill a Mockingbird is that it's truly a book about empathy, understanding, respect and tolerance," said Brown. "So much of the story is countering the racist attitudes being presented by one or few characters in Deep South in the 30s."

Photo by Ken Levy