st279916@ohio.edu
Before I explain my perspective on the film, Trial By Jury- The Case of the N-Word (directed by Kyle D. Browser alumni of Ohio University) I want to introduce exactly what the film entailed and the thoughts of both sides of the case.
The Case
Trial By Jury- The Case of the N-Word is a film focused on the inclusion of the N-word in a fourth-grade classroom as apart of the curriculum. The movie begins with a young nine-year-old girl coming home and asking her father if the word “negro” was a “bad word.” The father explains that it is not, though it sounds very similar to a word that is. The daughter then says she knows the word and goes on to say the N-word to her father. Both the father and mother are upset and surprised that their daughter knows that word and they further her question their daughter about how she learned that term since they hadn’t introduced her to it yet. The daughter explains that the word was used by her teacher at Pennybaker Preparatory School in a Civil Rights lesson. The parents are very upset and go on to sue the school due to negligence for introducing this heavily charged word to their daughter before asking for consent.
Those in favor of the Pennybaker Preparatory School
After the crowd watched the film, twelve people were taken outside of the room to deliberate as if they were a real jury. As those people were downstairs, the rest of the crowd debated back and forth on the issue at hand. Those who were in favor of the teacher's decision to include the N-word into the lesson explained why. Many of their arguments included that by the age of nine, there was a high possibility that a child would have already heard or even been called the N-word. They explained that they would rather have a trained professional teach the history of the word and provide the children with more context as to how the word has changed and evolved over time. Most of the people in the crowd explained they would’ve hated their children to learn from outside the classroom, where they couldn’t stand up for themselves because of lack of education on the topic.
Those in favor of the Plaintiff (The Robinsons)
Many others in the crowd explained that it wasn’t the school, nor the teachers right to teach their children the N-word before asking for consent. They compared it to the act of teaching children about sexual education, where teachers don’t use the word “whore” or derogatory terms of that nature. Others explained that the word is ultimately the parent's decision to make and they believe that the school should have waited to include that word until the kids were older and ready to understand what it truly means.
My Perspective
During the film, the young nine-year-old girl was not offended by her teacher's actions and the film was made to show that she had little knowledge about how impactful that word is to others. She did not show any signs that the school was negligent, which is the whole basis of the plaintiff's case. After listening to the crowd's views, I realized that all of their viewpoints circled back around to the idea of ethics and morals. More importantly, how ethical we believed it was for the teacher to include this term in her curriculum. Because of the history of this word, we have developed boundaries in professional journalism that have stopped journalists from using such words. This relates directly back to the SPJ Code of Ethics, which includes the rule of “Minimizing Harm.” In this field, journalists have no idea who will take offense to what content, but we as a society know that the N-word is simply off the table.
Journalists Duty
Journalists have a duty to help inform society, while also minimizing harm. There is a lot of pressure to get this factually correct while portraying information in an ethical light. Ethics looks different to everyone, but we know there are such terms that are demeaning rather than uplifting, and this is one of those cases. After watching the film and hearing from the crowd, I left with a deeper understanding of how the black and white American communities view this topic and I hope to keep what I learned today present in my mind for the rest of my professional and personal life.
The Case
Trial By Jury- The Case of the N-Word is a film focused on the inclusion of the N-word in a fourth-grade classroom as apart of the curriculum. The movie begins with a young nine-year-old girl coming home and asking her father if the word “negro” was a “bad word.” The father explains that it is not, though it sounds very similar to a word that is. The daughter then says she knows the word and goes on to say the N-word to her father. Both the father and mother are upset and surprised that their daughter knows that word and they further her question their daughter about how she learned that term since they hadn’t introduced her to it yet. The daughter explains that the word was used by her teacher at Pennybaker Preparatory School in a Civil Rights lesson. The parents are very upset and go on to sue the school due to negligence for introducing this heavily charged word to their daughter before asking for consent.
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| http://trialbyjury.tv |
Those in favor of the Pennybaker Preparatory School
After the crowd watched the film, twelve people were taken outside of the room to deliberate as if they were a real jury. As those people were downstairs, the rest of the crowd debated back and forth on the issue at hand. Those who were in favor of the teacher's decision to include the N-word into the lesson explained why. Many of their arguments included that by the age of nine, there was a high possibility that a child would have already heard or even been called the N-word. They explained that they would rather have a trained professional teach the history of the word and provide the children with more context as to how the word has changed and evolved over time. Most of the people in the crowd explained they would’ve hated their children to learn from outside the classroom, where they couldn’t stand up for themselves because of lack of education on the topic.
Those in favor of the Plaintiff (The Robinsons)
Many others in the crowd explained that it wasn’t the school, nor the teachers right to teach their children the N-word before asking for consent. They compared it to the act of teaching children about sexual education, where teachers don’t use the word “whore” or derogatory terms of that nature. Others explained that the word is ultimately the parent's decision to make and they believe that the school should have waited to include that word until the kids were older and ready to understand what it truly means.
My Perspective
During the film, the young nine-year-old girl was not offended by her teacher's actions and the film was made to show that she had little knowledge about how impactful that word is to others. She did not show any signs that the school was negligent, which is the whole basis of the plaintiff's case. After listening to the crowd's views, I realized that all of their viewpoints circled back around to the idea of ethics and morals. More importantly, how ethical we believed it was for the teacher to include this term in her curriculum. Because of the history of this word, we have developed boundaries in professional journalism that have stopped journalists from using such words. This relates directly back to the SPJ Code of Ethics, which includes the rule of “Minimizing Harm.” In this field, journalists have no idea who will take offense to what content, but we as a society know that the N-word is simply off the table.
Journalists Duty
Journalists have a duty to help inform society, while also minimizing harm. There is a lot of pressure to get this factually correct while portraying information in an ethical light. Ethics looks different to everyone, but we know there are such terms that are demeaning rather than uplifting, and this is one of those cases. After watching the film and hearing from the crowd, I left with a deeper understanding of how the black and white American communities view this topic and I hope to keep what I learned today present in my mind for the rest of my professional and personal life.
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