Another day, two more KC-area teachers who used n-word and deserve to be unemployed

For 12 hours — all night long, in fact, until almost 5 a.m. on Wednesday — Harrisonville Schools’ board heard testimony on whether, in essence, an educator can use the n-word in front of three different classes and keep his job.

This should not be a close call. What does it say to Harrisonville students that making this call merited an all-nighter?

That it’s seen as a matter on which reasonable people might disagree explains why this keeps happening.

The Harrison High School science teacher, John Magoffin, has said he did not use the slur, but three students testified that yes, he did. A district investigation found that he did as well.

The school principal told the board that Magoffin had asked three different classes why Black rappers can use the n-word — he used the slur itself — but a white teacher like him can’t.

“Talking about rap culture in AP bio is not part of the curriculum,” Harrisonville High School Principal Mark Wiegers said during the hearing.

Again, we have to ask, what is so irresistible about using a word that harms people? What’s the allure?

This is a settled question. You don’t do it because it’s hateful and hurtful. That this remains mysterious to someone whose job is educating young people is a problem.

Magoffin’s attorney, Jean Lamfers, suggested that teenagers tend to exaggerate. And anyway, she said, using that slur during a discussion about hip-hop culture and race in an advanced biology class is no different from teaching the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird,” which uses the slur plenty. Only, English teachers shouldn’t be using that word, either. No one should.

One Black female student told Wiegers that Magoffin was obsessed with her hair and often made comments about it. Once, she said, Magoffin told her she shouldn’t wear leggings to school because they showed off her buttocks and hips.

Magoffin referred to Martin Luther King Jr. Day as Black Privilege Day, and said racism in America doesn’t exist, another student testified.

Magoffin, who was placed on administrative leave in April, denied using racist language and said questions about race came up organically, during a genetics lesson. He never used the n-word, he told district officials.

And you know what’s worse than Magoffin’s alleged comments? That he’s not alone in saying such things, even now.

The latest example is Joe Oswald, a physical education teacher and track and field coach at Pleasant Lea Middle School in Lee’s Summit. He was placed on administrative leave in May for alleging using a racial slur. Oswald will use a public termination hearing Wednesday to defend himself. He, too, could lose his job.

In a letter dated May 6, a father of a student at Pleasant Lea Middle School wrote: “my son along with another student were sitting in an office on school grounds when Mr. Oswald turned and looked into my son’s eyes and aggressively stated ‘N____, what you looking at?’

“I find Mr. Oswald’s behavior to be extremely inappropriate, unprofessional and creates a hostile school environment for my son and other students,” the father said. Is there any question about that?

Oswald only used the n-word while reporting a female student for yelling that question, according to district sources.

That’s exactly what an Olathe baseball coach said after he was recently fired for using the slur. He said he was only repeating a lyric that he himself found offensive.

So teachers and coaches, no, you can’t repeat that word, either, because it’s still hurtful, and still inappropriate.

David Buck, superintendent of the Lee’s Summit School District, wants Oswald gone. Buck, to his credit, decided to fire Oswald against the recommendation of school and district staff, who argued for a lesser punishment. Oswald has a right to plead his case publicly, according to district policy. Teachers can request a public hearing to contest a superintendent’s recommendation. The school board then decides the appropriate punishment, if any.

Oswald couldn’t be reached for comment, but he wants to redeem himself and take sensitivity classes, according to a letter to the Lee’s Summit School Board obtained by The Star Editorial Board.

Meanwhile, what does it say about the community when close to 900 people have signed an online petition backing Oswald as a great coach, excellent teacher and person of high character?

Same as what it says that that meeting in Harrisonville had to go on all night, actually.

This story was originally published June 16, 2021 at 1:21 PM.