CHICAGO — A longtime teacher at a Chicago private school was fired for using a racial slur during a class discussion about sports teams, officials said.
Mary DeVoto, who taught at Mother McAuley High School for 41 years, was teaching Native American culture for her World History class on Jan. 28 when a student brought up efforts to find a replacement for the Chief Illiniwek mascot at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Then the conversation with students evolved into sports team names, such as the former nickname for the newly christened Washington Commanders of the NFL, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Mother McAuley High School teacher Mary DeVoto was fired for using a racial slur repeatedly. She said she hopes to get her job back. https://t.co/fnFd3uw0Hd
— ABC 7 Chicago (@ABC7Chicago) February 5, 2022
When a student asked why the previous nickname was offensive, DeVoto said she was “trying to emphasize that that is as abhorrent (to Native Americans) as the N-word, which I used in full,” the newspaper reported Thursday.
”I can’t believe it fell out of my mouth,” DeVoto told WLS-TV.
A student captured audio of DeVoto saying the racial slur and it was quickly shared on social media, the Tribune reported.
“Guys, that’s no better than calling someone a (N-word),” the Tribune reported, quoting the audio recording. “OK? Calling someone a (R-word) is the same thing as calling someone a (N-word).”
”If I could take it back in a heartbeat, I would,” DeVoto told WLS, adding she was suspended that day and fired on Monday.
School officials declined requests for comment Thursday, the Tribune reported. However, in the newspaper’s Daily Southtown edition, officials said the school “does not condone this language and is deeply saddened by the hurt and pain this has caused our students and community.”
“With the intent to emphasize the abhorrence of slurs, the teacher wrongfully compared and egregiously miscommunicated two racial slurs, including using the N-word in its entirety,” the school statement said.
DeVoto told the Sun-Times she was trying to make things clear to administrators but would never use the word again.
“You can’t just talk about wonderful things in history, we have to talk about the underbelly,” DeVoto told the newspaper. “But I agree, I did not present that lesson well and it wasn’t conducive to the learning experience for my students. I am mortified and want to fix it.”
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