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Illinois Substitute Teacher Accused of Calling Black Students N-Word, Slaves

Eighth graders Mea Thompson and Zaria Daniel say the woman used the slur throughout the 80-minute class period and referred to them as slaves.

A substitute teacher who allegedly used a racial slur when speaking to a group students has been banned from an Illinois middle school, Raw Story reports.

According to eighth graders Mea Thompson and Zaria Daniel at Jay Stream Middle School, the substitute teacher approached them and two other students while they were working on a social studies class project last Wednesday and called them “African-American.”

"All four of us that were sitting there got offended because none of us are from Africa. I’m Jamaican. So we said, 'Can you please not call us that?” Thompson, 13, told WMAQ. “She continued to call us that and said, 'It’s the politically correct term.' Then she said, 'Well, back then you guys would be considered the N-word.”

“We were so shocked and we were like, ‘What? Excuse me?’” Thompson said. “She was like, ‘Well, back then that’s what African-Americans were called.’”

The students claim that the teacher also referred to them as slaves and continued using the N-word throughout the 80-minute class period. The teacher's language allegedly brought some students to tears.

When the school district interviewed the woman, she confirmed the students’ allegations, WMAQ reports. A spokesperson for the district added that the woman has been permanently banned from the school.

“After the shock and hurt, I’m angry,” said Thompson’s mother, Shayna. “It’s a new world, and the people of the past that still hang onto hatred and bigotry don’t belong in this world anymore.”

Shayna said she is considering pressing charges for disorderly conduct or a hate crime, if possible.

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(Photo: epicurean/Getty Images)

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