Petition for Social Justice  

Hello, my name is Kenwon Simpson. I am a junior who attends the Wilson Talent Center and Waverly High school. I'm writing this petition to achieve greater social justice.  

Last week a teacher employed by Waverly High School “mistakenly” said the N-Word. She then released a statement to a select few students proclaiming she mistakenly said the word but was seen the very next day recommencing her daily tasks at the high school, with administration approval. She could not even privately say “I'm sorry” to these students. I'm writing this to push for consequences for these actions. 

I’d first like to start off by bringing up the level of injustice my school committed by allowing her to resume her normal schedule. Saying the N-word in any context is taboo and holds a load of hate, pain, injustice, racism, suffering, and many more feelings and thoughts. By not enforcing any consequences for these actions, students like myself are shown a first-person example of white privilege and how racism still exists in many places including school systems. Beyond the white privilege my schooling system showed, her actions and lack of consequences set a precedent for non POC. With her actions left justified as “an accident” and “being taken out of context” students will then begin to rap along with the lyrics in songs and justify it as context. Then they will go on to justify saying the word “because I have Black friends” and are met with no consequences due to a contributing factor of systematic racism, which is white privilege. This is the cycle that unfortunately keeps the word alive in our culture, the cycle that just one week ago showed impressionable students that it is ok to say it and if it is said, you will not be met with much consequence. Racism is the foundation of the society we live in today; to simply carry on with absolutely no active interruption of that system is to be complicit with racism. 

Next, I would like to address context. As many Americans know the N-Word has hundreds of years of blood-soaked history behind it. From it being used while thrashing through the skin of enslaved Africans with broad bull whips, to being slung at an innocent six-year-old child while trying to receive equal education, to a man who had a dream that all children no matter race could play outside together, to being thought of while on the neck of an innocent man breathing his last breath. The word symbolizes inferiority. Inferiority with no but, with no “context.” Inferiority with no room for it to be said during any time frame. The N-Word being used in any context conveys a certainty of power. Power that was left unchecked by the Waverly School Board. Power that will lead this paper into the mouth of a shredder, disregarded just like the word being used by a high school teacher at their workplace met with no repercussions.  
Finally, I would like to end this by encouraging you to check this power, set a new precedent, and show students across the nation how society handles people who wield this word recklessly. Show susceptible students that these actions are not ok, and the word is more than a word that can be “mistakenly” used. Most importantly, show minority students that you value their presence, their input, and stand with them in times of transgressions against our community. I want to ask; do you stand with us? Or will you aid a system that continues to destroy minority lives a little more each day? It's up to you.