02-04-2025
Fort Smith Northside teacher gets 90-day suspension for racial slur in test question
FORT SMITH, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — A Fort Smith teacher, who was initially placed on administrative leave, has been suspended for 90 days without pay after a racial slur was on a test he handed out to students in February.
According to his attorney, Joey McCutchen, Robert Duff Taylor, an American Literature teacher at Northside High School, has worked at the school for years.
Tuesday, McCutchen shared his thoughts on the board's decision in an interview with KNWA/FOX24.
'When you're teaching history, you can't sanitize it because that's the way we learn, and if we don't learn from our history, we're doomed to repeat it,' McCutchen said. 'We want our students being taught real true history.'
The decision came after Taylor instructed a lesson on civil rights, reading through a book called 'Warriors Don't Cry,' written by Melba Pattillo Beals, a member of the Little Rock Nine.
The book contains sensitive language, including racial slurs, that Beals says she endured at Little Rock's Central High School.
'To not use her words, to sanitize Melba Beal's words, is wrong. These literary works contain the N-word and the library at Northside High School has at least five different literary works that use the N-word. The 11th grade literature textbook uses the word, and Mr. Taylor taught a powerful lesson to his students,' McCutchen said.
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However, according to McCutchen, the allegations of racism surfaced when Taylor quoted part of the text that contained a racial slur on a test. Taylor says the test was AI-generated through an approved program, yet it still resulted in being placed on administrative leave.
Monday night, Fort Smith Public Schools held a hearing on the situation, where it stood its ground, choosing to suspend Taylor for 90 days without pay.
McCutchen believes this was an overreaction.
'They threw Mr. Taylor under the bus and without even talking to him, without even giving his version of what had happened. If you're calling someone the N-word, obviously that's unacceptable,' McCutchen said.
He also says Taylor is receiving support from the very person who experienced that racism and wrote that book.
'Dr. Beals supported Duff Taylor 100%, said that he had given the students a gift. We thought that's what she would say because she wrote those words, because words have power to them, and you can't sanitize history. It's what she lived, and it's what she experienced,' McCutchen said.
KNWA/FOX24 did reach out to FSPS for a statement on the decision, to which it declined.
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