Tuesday, May 14, 2013
State Board of Education member stands by use of 'N-word'
By Celia Llopis-Jepsen
celia.llopisjepsen@cjonline.com
2012 FILE PHOTO/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kansas State Board of Education board member Steve Roberts, R-Overland Park, used the "N-word" during last month's meeting.
Kansas State Board of Education member Steve Roberts came under fire Tuesday for using the “N-word” at last month’s board meeting.
Roberts, R-Overland Park, who used the word during a discussion of African-American history, stood by his choice of words “100 percent.”
But board member Carolyn Campbell, D-Topeka, along with two members of the NAACP, called Roberts’ comments offensive.
Roberts said the word on April 16 in the context of a vote on history standards.
On that day, former Topeka NAACP president the Rev. Ben Scott had just addressed the board, saying that the history standards under consideration should do more to ensure that students learn African-American history.
Roberts responded by reflecting on political correctness, saying that he wanted to “create some sort of impression that I'm willing to go against political correctness.”
He said New York City had banned the use of the “N-word” and that Martin Luther King Jr. himself had used the word in his Letter from Birmingham Jail.
“We have to push the frontiers of political correctness and do what's right,” Roberts said. “And so, if I were to use it clinically, I would almost use a test to see what the effect on Twitter would be. ‘That Roberts guy said n*** at the state school board meeting, and he said it as, it's probably the ugliest word in our vocabulary. It's an ugly repugnant absolutely horrific word that we should rise above."
“But I did get it out there,” he continued, “and I appreciate the opportunity to do that in a politically correct setting.”
Scott responded to the comments with a single sentence — "I appreciate your comments" — and sat down.
On Tuesday, Scott returned to the board, saying Roberts’ comments had stunned him.
“I was taken aback,” said Scott, who is also a former member of the Topeka Unified School District 501 school board.
“I didn't want to take those comments as a personal attack,” he said. “I refuse to do that.”
But he also said Roberts’ intentions in using that word were unclear, and that if Roberts had intended to denigrate the character of King, it was unacceptable.
Campbell and NAACP member Preston Williams also expressed shock and concern.
Campbell said “Mr. Roberts felt completely comfortable in the end to say the full offensive word.”
"No one has been able to understand why we had to endure” Roberts' monologue on that word, she said. “It was offensive to me.”
She also said she had been receiving phone calls from upset members of the community.
“My concern was it was never clear why he mentioned Dr. King and that letter,” she said.
She read portions of King’s work (http://bit.ly/...) to give listeners the full context.
Williams said Roberts seemed to be suggesting Scott should be less sensitive to the “N-word.” He said he had communicated his concern to the education department’s general counsel, Cheryl Whelan.
Williams, a former social worker in USD 501, and Scott also are members of the Topeka Alliance of Black School Educators.
Speaking during a break, Roberts said he stood by his comments “100 percent.”
“I did my best to say the ‘N-word’ clinically,” he said, adding that this meant saying it in a way that doesn’t make anyone feel inferior.
“It’s a vile and ugly word,” he said, adding that King’s letter was one of the greatest documents he had ever read.
“I’m willing to be considered politically incorrect,” he said. “I don’t think that’s a bad thing.”
But, Roberts also said, “spending time on this (in today’s meeting) seems less than putting our best foot forward.”
He said no one who spoke Tuesday had approached him directly with their concerns.
Though speakers had wondered if Roberts was seeking attention by using the “N-word,” Roberts suggested his critics might be the ones seeking attention.
“We might ask who wants the media attention,” he said.
Innovative districts
Meanwhile, education commissioner Diane DeBacker said Tuesday that the Kansas State Department of Education would seek the opinion of the attorney general’s office on a new law waiving state requirements for some school districts.
School districts will be able to apply for Innovative District status, which would free them from many laws and regulations.
DeBacker said no districts had indicated yet that they would be applying.
She said the education department wanted the attorney general’s clarification on who can waive what laws or regulations, to ensure that districts don’t run into legal complications down the line.
Common Core
Also Tuesday, parents and others crowded the state board meeting to speak against current mathematics and English standards.
The opponents presented various arguments against the Common Core standards adopted in 2010, including that they aren’t effective for teaching math and English. They also said the Common Core initiative overstandardizes education, to the detriment of students, and violates student privacy.
Rep. John Bradford and former state board member Walt Chappell were among those who spoke. Bradford, a member of the House Education Committee, introduced a bill this legislative session to stop the Common Core standards.
Bradford said the standards were the “culmination” of education reformer John Dewey’s movement to “dumb down America.”
7:26 PM PT: Steve Roberts
Ran for Kansas Board of Education
Nov. 6, 2012 Follow
PartyRepublicanContact
Steve Roberts
6017 West 124th Terr.Overland ParkKansas
Work 913-302-8185
Home 913-469-1894
Cell 913-302-8185Online
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Date of BirthJune 26, 1958Education
B.S., University of Missouri, 1982
Bachelor of Science, Electrical Engineering
M.Ed., Grand Canyon University, 2007
Master of Education
Occupationengineer/teacherWork experience
I have recently accepted a teaching position with the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas. I'll be teaching in Wyandotte County during the 2012-2013 school year. My primary charges will be eighth grade science and religion at Christ the King School on Leavenworth Road near 54th in Kansas City, Kansas.
Family
Mary Pat Sullivan, wife
Teresa Roberts, daughter
Forest Roberts, son
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