A NORMAL PART OF BLACK CULTURE ?

Recently, Kathleen Parker, a Wahington Post Writers Group columnist, wrote an op ed piece about a white teacher who was constantly subjected to reprehensible racist slurs and other indignities by her black students while school officials excused such behavior as normal black culture. Since most of you probably have'nt read Parker's column, I am going to cover some of the highlights.

Elizabeth Kandrac was a teacher at Brentwood Middle School, a predominantly black school, in North Charleston, South Carolina. She made frequent complaints to school officials about being subjected to racially charged verbal abuse. In addition to a daily barrage of vulgar language, Kandrac had books and desks thrown at her, and had her bicycle tires punctured.

Other teachers and students corroborated Kandrac's account. One male teacher, a war veteran, "testified he would rather return to (fight in) Vietnam than to Brentwood." When officials with the Charleston County School District failed to take any remedial action, she took her complaints to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

According to Parker, the students' slurs "make shock jock Don Imus look like a church deacon." Parker wrote, "Let's be clear: What these children called this teacher is beyond reprehensible and could only be construed as hostile and threatening. Here's a sample: white b---, white m--- f---, white c---, white a---, white ho." School officials told her that if she couldn't handle the foul language she was in the wrong school.

Since they believed the same vulgarities were commonly used in black homes, school officials simply considered the racially charged profanity as a normal part of black culture. Instead of acting on the complaints, Kandrac's competence was questioned and when her EEOC complaint was made public, she was suspended. Eventually she lost her job.

Parker wrote, "Here's what we know without question: If majority white students had used similar language toward black students and teachers, the case would have been plastered on the front page of The New York Times until heads rolled. A black Kandrac would have a million-dollar book deal, a movie contract and hundreds of interviews to juggle. Her oppressors and those who passively facilitated her abuse would have been pilloried by the media - their faces all over the evening news - whiile the reverends Al (Sharpton) and Jessee (Jackson) organized protests."

So, instead of being able to cash in on her abuse, this white teacher was fired. Kathleen Parker is to be commended for bringing this sordid example of reverse discrimination to our attention. And who is responsible for imposing this racially biased double standard on our society? Blacks? No, nor any other minority group. It's white liberals on a guilt trip over past wrongs commited against blacks in this country.

I must confess that I often use vulgar language. That does not make it right. Black, white, yellow, purple or whatever color one might be, the use of offensive language, racially charged slurs, and threatening behavior is not justifiable. Black culture, my ass!