A 9-year-old boy suspended for ‘hate crime,’ said the words ‘brown-people’

Carolyn Hileman* | December 1, 2007

Robert Anglen
The Arizona Republic

A 9-year-old boy from a Phoenix elementary school has been suspended after the school determined he engaged in racial harassment by using the term “brown people.” The boy, whom The Arizona Republic is not naming because of his age, was suspended for three days from Abraham Lincoln Traditional School after officials determined that his language constituted racial harassment, part of its hate-crime code. In a parent-teacher conference in early November, Abraham Lincoln Principal Virginia Voinovich said she also told the boy that it is OK to have racist feelings as long as you keep them to yourself.

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2 Responses to “A 9-year-old boy suspended for ‘hate crime,’ said the words ‘brown-people’”

Mark Taylor on December 2nd, 2007 5:02 pm

As nutty as this whole thing sounds, it reminds me
of a similar story ten years ago. A college began
a paper recycling program and set out separate
containers for ‘white paper’ and ‘colored paper.’
Someone soon changed the second container to read
‘paper of color.’ Who knows what evil lurks in the
hearts of men?
RonniesRayGun on December 2nd, 2007 6:11 pm

Mark Taylor on December 2nd, 2007 5:02 pm:

“Someone soon changed the second container to read
‘paper of color.’”

Yes, but only if they would have said “brown” paper would it have been truly objectionable