On the afternoon of Friday, March 20, students packed into the gym for an assembly to close out three straight weeks of testing. To the surprise of some, the meeting had nothing to do with standardized tests.

The assembly, organized by the Minority Achievement Committee, honored black history month. It had been rescheduled from February due to the testing schedule.

MAC Scholars co-advisers Greg Deegan and Patti Bettis-Eddie explained the importance of honoring black history.

“This isn’t just black history, it’s American history,” Deegan said.

Exemplary MAC Scholars were honored including Mia Knight, Cameron Leathers-Clayborne, Porsche Moore, Kate Opre, Simone Rackmill, Tyler Thomas, Tamarea Townes, Maria Alvarez and Jada Campbell.

Deegan, a social studies teacher, gave a presentation titled Historical Perspectives: Race, Language and Power about what he described as “…a very important word in American history.”

As Deegan flipped to the next slide, a wave of silence rippled across the bleachers as students saw the word he was talking about.

“It’s derived from the latin word ‘niger,’” Deegan said, “…It has been employed to show contempt for blacks as an inferior race.”

He explained how blackface products during the Jim Crow era served to perpetuate a racist mindset in popular culture, and how even kids were indoctrinated through songs and rhymes.

Deegan proceeded to graphic images of lynching to provide historical context of the use of the N-word, but also to remember those who died.

“I’m convinced that these individuals–the last word they heard was the N-word,” Deegan said as he named each of the victims.

A clip from the movie The Great Debaters was also shown. It featured Denzel Washington explaining the origins of lynching and how the practice was meant to “keep the body, take the mind.”

Student speakers Maya Gaines-Smith, Jireh Bevel, Tyler Thomas and Chelsea Hodge came to the podium to discuss the use of the N-word in modern culture. They asked students to reconsider calling each other the N-word, even if it is used for endearment.

“This word takes, and it must be taken from the mouths of those who use it,” Thomas said.

“People have the tendency to take something that’s ugly and frame it as something beautiful,” Gaines-Smith said, “…But we must ask ourselves, ‘Is the N-word really worth it?’”

Bettis-Eddie introduced a music video of the spiritual Lift Every Voice and Sing, illustrated with inspiring images from African-American history.

Deegan closed the assembly asking students to walk away with an understanding of the South African concept of Ubuntu, meaning “I am what I am because of who we all are.”

“Our fates are tied together,” he said.