The “N” Word Report

Ernie Chambers is a State Senator from Nebraska. I was just looking through my old article when I ran across this gem. It is about an article in a school newspaper called, “The N Word.” So a discussion about the article came upon the floor of the State Senate and for a moment I thought Ernie was going to throw hands. What happened was one of the most impassioned oracles I have ever heard. Enjoy. – Editor

Originally published: December 2017

A reader recently sent me a video he came upon about a school newspaper that examine the use use of the “N” word. The incident happened 10 years ago at a school in Omaha, Nebraska, called the “Omaha Benson High School Magnet.” In 2007, the the student newspaper published a four-page special feature entitled “The N-Word” examining the use of the racial epithet “nigg*r” within the school community. It included peer reporting, editorial content, and a transcript of a round-table discussion on the topic. Of course the student news paper article was awash in controversy and Omaha Public Schools (OPS) administrators quickly back away, denouncing the paper, taking it off the schools internet site and placing the principal on suspension. OPS released the following statement as reported by the Omaha World-Herald, “The Omaha Public Schools has never condoned and cannot support the actions which recently resulted in the inappropriate articles published in the Benson High Gazette, The unacceptable decision-making by staff has violated the standards set forth by the Omaha Public Schools to appropriately guide and educate our students.”  Benson students and parents reacted with shock and disappointment to the news that Dale had been placed on leave and that OPS disapproved of the articles. The community backlash against removing the principal made the OPS back down, the principal was eventually reinstated after 3 days. Sentiment for the article was as strong as sentiment against it.”I think a newspaper is the perfect forum, “Why would we have newspapers at all? It may make people uncomfortable, but you can’t talk about things that people are always OK with. We can’t just ignore the bad things and hope they go away,” said Benson senior Sarah Swift, the paper’s editor. Even OPS had change its tune after the community turn on its decision to reprimand everybody involved saying, ” There is no question that the students had a valid, spirited discussion regarding this topic. However, a high school newspaper may not be an appropriate forum, because, as a printed piece, it can be misinterpreted.” State Senator, Ernie Chambers gave a “blistering, hellfire,”  speech concerning the incident on the State House floor, which you can see below. The student newspaper article can be seen here. 

Warning: The video contains strong language which is not suitable for all readers.

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