Whoopi Goldberg Defends Teacher Who Said ‘N-Word’ in Class

Earlier this month, Virginia high school teacher Lynne Pierce was put on leave for saying the word “nigger” in her classroom in a historical context. More than 1,000 people have signed an online petition to get her reinstated and today The View’s Whoopi Goldberg came to her defense.

“A history teacher is teaching history. If you don’t know the history and you don’t know why the word ‘nigger’ is offensive to some people,” Goldberg said, as ABC bleeped her use of the word. “Yeah, I said it.”

“These are words that were used,” Goldberg said, highlighting the difference between saying the “n-word” and calling someone the “n-word” that also came up amidst the outrage over President Barack Obama’s use of the word on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast earlier this year.

[Photo via screengrab]

— —

>> Follow Matt Wilstein (@TheMattWilstein) on Twitter

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!