Q: Mr. Federal Way, I heard the school district recently settled a lawsuit that a teacher filed, claiming racial discrimination against the district. What do you think about the lawsuit and the outcome?
A: Mr. Federal Way recalls camping out with family one summer day alongside a river while reading Mark Twain’s classic “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” As Huck, a white boy escaping his abusive father, sailed down the Mississippi River with a black man named Jim, Mr. Federal Way listened to the river trickle and imagined Mr. Federal Way was on that raft too.
Some schools have banned the book because Twain used the N-word more than 200 times.
To some critics, the author’s use of the N-word is powerful because it captured the way folks spoke in those days. But others argue that the derogatory term destroy’s the book’s message against slavery. There are, alas, two sides to every coin.
The same is true in this case. Tenesha Fremstad, an African-American teacher at TAF Academy, refused to publicly read a poem entitled “Niggerlips” in 2013. In a lawsuit she filed last May, she claims the school district discriminated against her when the school’s then-instructional coach Pam Wise handed out poems to staff during a meeting on the school’s professional development day, known as Data Day.
Fremstad refused to read the poem by Martin Espada because she did not want to use the word “nigger” as the only African- American teacher in the room full of staff, according to the lawsuit.
The district argued that the focus of the training exercise was to heighten the teachers’ awareness of how they would feel to experience racial or ethnic discrimination.
“What I am not sure has been appreciated in this case to date is that Martin Espada is a highly-acclaimed contemporary American poet laureate who is recognized for the important social justice message contained within his poems,” wrote an attorney on behalf of the district in investigation documents.
Mr. Federal Way agrees that sometimes powerful messages get pushed aside when derogatory terms are used in literary works of art. That doesn’t mean those words should be omitted, but it does warrant a closer look at a particular literary piece.
Espada outlined the message of his poem when the Mirror contacted him this week. Espada said the poem “is a product of my own painful personal experience, a challenge to the racists who inflicted that pain on me and would inflict it on others.” It’s a powerful message and one that shouldn’t be overlooked or lessened due to offensive words.
However, the fact that his poem holds a powerful message should not negate how Fremstad was treated. The public should not ignore the other side of the coin. Mr. Federal Way thinks it’s quite ironic that the instructional coach — who was trying to raise cultural and racial awareness — was not exercising racial sensitivity and awareness when she handed the poem to the only African-American teacher in the room.
What was she thinking? What if she was the only woman in a room full of men during a training exercise and was asked to read a seemingly sexist poem containing misogynist language? Mr. Federal Way is certain she would feel uncomfortable.
District representatives have apologized to Fremstad, and Mr. Federal Way thinks they should go through training to learn how to develop racial sensitivity. Taxpayers cannot afford to continue paying these costly settlements for the district’s missteps and our children deserve to have better role models.
Q: Mr. Federal Way, I hear the Chamber and the city are still at odds over some new changes in the city’s economic pipeline. Can’t we all just get along?
A: Mr. Federal Way previously predicted that the details in the city’s new economic development plan — or lack thereof — were questionable. And Mr. Federal Way also finds it ironic that the city decided to invest staff time on writing a letter to the editor to address that the business district associations are but a minute detail in a grandiose plan. This detail that the city plucked from the reporter’s story is a triviality in a much grander story. Nevertheless, Mr. Federal Way has discussed this ad nauseam and the bickering is causing economic indigestion. If Mayor Jim Ferrell hopes to win over business constituents when he is up for re-election, he’d better recognize that Valentine’s Day is right around the corner and it’s better to make love than war.
Q: Mr. Federal Way, what did you like least about your last job?
A: None of your business.
Email mrfederalway@federalwaymirror.com
