I nearly got booted for calling a child a thug.

I've been teaching high school history for twenty years and have been a teacher for thirty. I'm second-generation HBCU-educated. I'm black. I live in a black neighborhood in Atlanta, GA. I'm in the mix as much as I can be. I'm not some Karen from the burbs or a white supremacist with a badge. <br><br>And I nearly lost my job for calling a<br><br>*tough*<br><br>*stubborn*<br><br>*smart*<br><br>*black*<br><br>*girl*<br><br>a thug.<br><br>Let's get one thing straight first: it was a family of a student that got their feelings hurt, and a principal that is a slimy, opportunistic administrator that nearly got me fired. I've taught over 10,000 students and have simply devastated parents who are pissed off at me about a grade I gave their child, a conflict their child had with mine, a slight I gave them that only exists in their mind, and job losses. With tens of thousands of interactions, you're bound to have conflicts, and I've learned to power through all of that noise.<br><br>However, this one came damned close to ending my career. <br><br>It starts with a child. A child that we'll call SG.<br><br>SG was a junior and a bright kid that was placed in a mixed-grade advanced class. This class is weird because its supposed to be for students who are otherwise unserved by advanced classes because of poor grades. Over the last three years, however, the class has become a dumping ground for kids who are otherwise considered a pain in the ass. It's not easy teaching it: most of the students in that class are lazy, chronic liars, and bullies. <br><br>SG, however, had a different set of issues. SG was a child that was placed in a room with a bunch of kids who were considered the "bad" kids. And what I mean by "bad" is that they're not in advanced classes because of their behavior or history of academic failure. This was a room filled with kids who are otherwise considered "bad" by the school's administration. <br><br>And I think that's what this conflict is about. <br><br>Anyway, SG had a lot of difficulty interacting with the other kids in that room. Maybe they were too "advanced" for them, maybe the kids were too rough for them. Maybe there's some other reason. But let me tell you, the child was stubborn as hell. <br><br>Like, bull-headed. Would ask your question six times in a row. Would challenge your narrative. Would question everything you said. They would refuse assignments, then refuse consequences. <br><br>Now, I'm not some hard-nose asshole that just tells students to shut up and listen. I believe in free exchange. I believe in Socratic debate. I teach hard subjects that challenge social norms and question narratives. <br><br>But this little girl. This little girl refused to listen. Refused to take feedback. Refused to listen to reason. Refused to challenge her own ideas. <br><br>And she was extremely bright. Which made it worse. She would get off-topic, hijack discussions, and never accept feedback on her work. <br><br>The kids in the class loved her, of course. She was a disruptor who had little concern for consequences. They would feed off of her energy and use her as a way to further disrupt the class. And she'd encourage them. <br><br>This went on for months. And she was in my last class of the day. And I was new to the campus. So I was trying to ease into getting to know her. <br><br>But man. She got on my last nerve one day. I'd finally reached my limit with her. She and another student were going off-topic, talking loudly, and disrupting the class. I asked her to focus and she wouldn't do it. She asked me the same question for the fifth time, and when I answered it for the fifth time, she had the nerve to act like I had never already answered it twice before. <br><br>So I called her a thug.<br><br>Now, when I say thug, I didn't refer to her as a n\*\*\*a or a b\*\*\*\*. I simply said that "You're acting like a hellish thug and disrupting the classroom, SG."<br><br>She was taken aback. The class went silent for a moment. And then I refocused the class, and we moved forward. She finished the class that day without a hitch. Her grades were solid. I even texted her mom and told her that we had moved past the confrontation, and that my last period students were her real problem. SG did all of her work. Took the tests. Did the projects. Did every damn thing she was supposed to do. <br><br>And I thought it was over. I had finally broken through to her.<br><br>But boy, was I wrong. Two weeks later, I get a call from my principal and vice principal telling me they've been fielding calls from her mother for the last two damn weeks. She's pissed I called her child a thug. She's angry and feels I've committed a microaggression, and that I've called her child a n\*\*\*a. She wants me fired.<br><br>I'm fucking stunned. I've not heard a whisper from the child, who went on to complete the rest of the semester with me without a hitch. I've not heard a word from other students or other parents. I didn't even know her mom was pissed. We had a conference with mom, admin, and the child. And it was all a big fucking lie. She never told them she was acting like a thug. Never told them that she was being disruptive. Never told them there was a conflict at all. All she learned from the conflict was how to lie to get others in trouble. <br><br>But the admin didn't believe me. The admin was on the side of the mom and child, who were completely fucking lying. It was a fucking travesty. They didn't care about the truth. They cared about protecting their own asses, which is why they tried to fire me. They tried to pull my contract, and I had to threaten to sue them for defamation in order to keep my job. <br><br>But now I'm poisoned in the school. The admin doesn't trust me. I have to watch everything I say. I've written a letter to the superintendent telling them everything I've written here. But fuck, man. Nearly losing a job I've loved for thirty years because some child and their parents decided to lie and get me fired is something I cannot stand.