Mother applauds students for speaking up after Winnipeg teacher uses N-word in class

The mother of a Black-Indigenous student whose substitute teacher used the N-word in class wants to encourage students to continue to speak out against racism. 

The incident happened Monday afternoon in a Grade 11 English class at Grant Park High School on the last day of Black History Month. 

Melanie Ferris says her son told her the substitute teacher led a discussion around the N-word and how 'we don't use it.' 

"Unfortunately the substitute teacher said the N-word in full and this very much upset the students in the class," said Ferris. 

"I think it's shameful. I think it's sad. I was very upset to hear this. I think one of the things that we need to think about is, a lot of times the education system is not working for students of colour. It's not working for students who are in minority groups. And we need to think about why that is."

She said her 16-year-old son, who is Black and Indigenous, was at a loss over how to react. He said one of his classmates, who is Black and sits in the front row, left to go tell the principal, while others reacted with laughter and jokes. 

Ferris said her son told her he was laughing at the substitute teacher, who was white, and she "called him out on it," telling him she felt disrespected and was going to write him up.  

Ferris said when she called Grant Park's principal Tuesday, he told her he was "disgusted and appalled" that it had happened. She said he told her he had contacted human resources, planned to speak to the students directly and wanted to make sure the substitute teacher did not return to the school.

"I'm really thankful my son said something, I'm really thankful that the principal sounds to be taking this very seriously, I hope that he is talking to my son's class to reassure that they are taking steps to address this, and I hope the story shows that it's really important for students to come forward and share these types of experiences and for us to rectify it moving forward," said Ferris. 

A spokesperson for the Winnipeg School Division confirmed they are aware of the situation and an internal review process is underway.

"We do take situations like this very seriously and our internal processes will determine if we do need to take further action both with the individual and throughout the school division," Radean Carter said in an interview Tuesday afternoon. 

She also noted Winnipeg School Division staff are required to complete ongoing training modules related to human rights and diversity. 

"Who's doing it? What is the training? What is the framework modules, what does that mean?" asked Suni Matthews, a retired principal for the Winnipeg School Division who now co-chairs Equity Matters, a group committed to bringing diversity and equity to the education system to improve student outcomes.

She said diversity and anti-racism training should be led by people of colour, supported by white allies and designed to both educate and hold staff accountable.