UPDATE: C.H.A.N.G.E. = Come Help a Nigger Get Elected, according to a Florida 7th grade teacher
October 6, 2008
I noticed this originally at Crooks and Liars but this link to their source article appeared to be down. The JC Floridan has a working article though with a bit more depth than I found at a few other articles, indicating that Mr. Greg Howard not only provided his translation for “CHANGE” on the blackboard, laughed about it (ruling out the likelihood he was making some comment about racism in the election), but also did so multiple times in multiple classes. He is a Social Studies teacher, apparently.
He had been given a written reprimand and is suspended without pay, but I had read in another article that he will continue to teach, but with an adult education program as opposed to being with children.
I had originally that there MUST be more to this story, judging by how foolish the act seemed prima facie. This sort of behaviour always shocks me. For that to be said in private or online is expected, but that someone would come to the conclusion that this joke would be appreciated or tolerated in a public setting (in front of at least one class with black students, no less) boggles the mind. Either he did not care about the repercussions, or the environment he works and lives in was so conducive and accepting to comments like the one he made, he believed there would be no consequences.
One idiot is never going to surprise me, but I am worried that there might be a much larger concentrated population of idiots around Greg Howard that allows this behaviour to come to light.
(I know I’m phrasing thing as if only the act and not the thought are worth criticism in this post, but it isn’t meant to condone his joke in a different setting. I just am not surprised at all for racism to manifest itself in private. It’s the public occurence that provides condemning evidence to a society at large, rather than just an individual with individual prejudices)
MINOR ADDITION:
I noticed some news reports had the abbreviation expanded to “Can you help a Nigger get elected” and “Can help a nigger get elected”, I believe. So I’m adding it to catch the searches for those slightly different phrases. The ‘Come…’ one makes the most grammatical and euphonic sense to me. And say what you want about racists, they are not prejudiced against grammar or euphony.
UPDATE:
I have a slightly more recent related post here also related to Barack Obama and the virulent racism that some possess against him, even on the other side of the Atlantic. And it resulted in a man actually being attacked for wearing an Obama t-shirt. This isn’t quite a trend, thankfully, but this is hardly an isolated phenomena.
… and the cow goes moo
Black America and the n-word:
[...] Barack Obama’s face on a t-shirt absolutely boggles the mind. As I’ve said before in my most recent post about Barack Obama’s race and the hatred (and stupidity) it seems to incite, I don’t feel shocked by the presence of a [...]
FLUK HIM
I don,t know that idiot is the proper way to describe the actions of Greg Howard and Danny Sims, Superintendent of Schools in Jackson County. Both men share several things in common, both are educators and of the mormon faith.
That is an interesting assertion (in that ‘what are the odds both of these men in Florida are Mormons?’ way) but I hope we have more evidence before we insinuate that:
a) Mormons hate black people?
b) A supervisor is lightly reprimanding a fellow Mormon
c) Whatever else you can think of.
And sorry, thescoop, for the late appearance of your comment. Spam blocker caught it and I very rarely check my spam comments for legit ones.
That’s youtube link was mildly interesting, even if it was just an advertisement for a book.
I personally feel that the ‘n’ word, like any word, has it’s impact in perceived intent. So when a bunch of black people use the word nigger, I can see how it might not be the least bit offensive (except to those who see it as perhaps degrading or ignorant to use it without appreciating the history of the word).
As it relates to Greg Howard, I actually thought initially there was some misunderstanding and Mr. Howard MUST have been trying to discuss racism in this election in mature, stark, and literal terms (explaining the use of the word ‘nigger’). But when subsequent reports I read showed that he was laughing about it and certainly no students came forward to say Mr. Howard was attempting anything in the least thoughtful, the intent and context of his use of the word was pretty clear.
As I believe I’ve said before (in one of my very earliest posts on racism)… like any racial slur, the word itself is meaningless. The intended message, however, is often “can you kick my ass?”
There is even more links between Greg Howard and Danny Sims. Greg Howard’s wife is Danny Sims’ cousin. This is also not the first incident of Greg Howard making racial comments. He has made racial comments that WERE directed TOWARDS CHILDREN. For instance, he called a student “Nasty” because he did not wash his hair as often as white people. More ignorance about the differences between different races.
Thanks for the information, Jonathan. It really is shocking how many people must have been witness and perhaps complicit to Mr. Howard’s unveiled racism.
[...] to the previous posts regarding the Florida social studies teacher and his witty definition of ‘C.H.A.N.G.E.’ and the unfortunate Londoner who was shot three times for wearing an Obama tee-shirt, I thought [...]
Wrong is wrong — not in defense of Mr Howards actions but the word used was “nigga” not “nigger”. So using this word is offencive only if used by a person of a different race? GO FIGURE
Like any other word, I think the intent is paramount. It seems pretty clear to me that Mr. Howard’s intent was to offend, where when DMX sings about “my niggaz”, I doubt it is meant to be inflammatory. Not that I ever really bought the “nigga” ! = “nigger” argument or put much credence to it. Once again, the intent is paramount.