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UPSET: Kadel with mum

Race Abused 10-year-old made to read out 'niggah' poem by teacher

A 10-YEAR-OLD boy who was racially abused by a fellow pupil was left upset after his teacher made him recite a poem called ‘Niggah’ in front of his class and asked him ‘why black people could use the word n***er and white people couldn’t?’

Kadel Smith-Samuels, who attends Sefton Park Primary School, in Bristol, was called a ‘n***er’ several times by a classmate and was left feeling ashamed and guilty for reporting the incident to his teacher.

Speaking to The Voice, Kadel said: “I feel very let down by my school because they have not supported me and my teacher made me feel bad about doing the right thing by telling on my classmate.

“I was heartbroken when I was called a ‘n***er’ and I feel he should be punished for his racist behaviour and not me.”

The incident took place October 10 during recess and Kadel said he and his friends immediately informed the playground supervisor.

Kadel’s mother, Ann Smith said: “I was unaware of the situation until the weekend after I noticed that my son appeared troubled,”.

“After questioning Kadel, he explained what had happened, which made me extremely angry because his teacher failed to inform me about the situation despite the fact that I had collected him from school that day.

“I wrote a letter to the deputy head, Angela Clay, but I was informed that she was off sick and (asked) if I could wait until she returned, which I objected to due to the seriousness of the matter.

“I received a second letter from the school explaining that the deputy head had dealt with the matter under the guidelines of their behaviour policy, because the school’s racial equality policy was under review, which I found unacceptable.”

On October 17 Kadel’s parents attended his school to discuss the matter further with head teacher Jan Lonsdale.

“I was completely dumbfounded after my son told me that he was made to recite a poem called ‘Niggah’ in front of his class. Kadel was then subjected to further humiliation after his teacher, questioned him as to why black people could used the word ‘n***er’ and white people could not.”

Kadel said: “I felt very unhappy and embarrassed when I had to read the poem. I was made to feel like a loser, a nobody. I just want this situation to end so I can go back to school after Christmas.”

The schoolboy claims he was later called a ‘headless black monkey’ by the same student.

Fuming, the 10-year-old’s parents organised a meeting with Support Against Racist Incidents (SARI) for Kadel’s classmate and his family to attend along with the head and deputy head teacher. However, both failed to attend and the inclusion manager for the school was sent instead.

“I found the non-attendance of the head and deputy head to be very insensitive, especially because the inclusion manger already informed me that she did not feel confident engaging with BME [black minority ethnic] parents and found it difficult to discuss issues around race,” said Smith.

She removed Kadel from the school and reported the incident to the police.

Bristol police arranged a meeting for all parties to attend but later informed Smith that Kadel’s head teacher did not want to be present.

“The following morning after the meeting, I received an email from Jan Lonsdale stating that she did not approve of the meeting and that she was there only to support the perpetrator and his parents and my son, but not my husband and I, which I found strange,” Smith said.

“She also informed me that after carrying out a health and safety evaluation, she felt that I should not communicate with Kadel’s teachers as she found me to be a risk to the school.

“I’m still in shock regarding the head’s email, especially because I felt despite the recent problems I had a good relationship with the school. I am also troubled because Jan Lonsdale has instructed me not to engage with Kadel’s teachers, which automatically brings to an end all the constructive work his teachers and I had previously arranged regarding Kadel’s learning disabilities to improve his work, especially because he takes his SATs next year.”

Smith removed her son from the school for a second time. Kadel is currently receiving home tuition and is apart of the Explore Learning programme.

“My son has been very distressed regarding the situation to the point that I had to take him to see our GP. After seeing Kadel, our doctor immediately wrote a letter to the school, stating that the incident has had an ‘adverse effect on his general wellbeing,’ and that the situation needs to be resolved quickly,” Smith said.

“The message that the school is conveying is that ‘it’s okay for my white students be racist’ and black students who stick up for themselves are left feeling ashamed and their parents are branded as trouble-makers.”

Contacted by The Voice, Jan Lonsdale stated: “We work hard to ensure Sefton Park is an inclusive school, where children from all backgrounds can learn together. We are listening to this mother's concerns and working with the Local Authority to resolve them.”

Published: 15 December 2008
Issue: 1351

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