CLEVELAND COUNTY, N.C. -- Parents want a local teacher punished after they said she played music with offensive lyrics in front of students. The incident allegedly happened at Washington Elementary School in Cleveland County.
"My nephews were singing it, and my niece said the teacher played it in class," said Melvin Clark.
Families said the song was "Oh! Susanna", and there was no need to read between the lines.
"And I'm going down, and I'm going to kill 500 (racial slur)," Clark said.
Parents said the music instructor played those lyrics for young kids in the class.
"'But if I don't find you, that (racial slur) has to die,' and this is in the song," said Clark.
Tamika Wright's son is in the music class.
"He's nine. We was just sitting at the kitchen table. I had my bible, and he had his. And he was like, 'Momma, guess what I heard today? I heard the 'n' word," said Wright.
The district sent NBC Charlotte a response:
Any time instructional materials are used that could be considered controversial, the school and district administration work through the issue together. This particular concern has been addressed and is now considered a matter of personnel.
The five letter word echoed throughout Cleveland County Schools. A district spokesperson said the "instructional materials" have since been changed.
As for the teacher, the district wouldn't say if she was punished.
"We just won't rest with this sort of thing in our community," Clark said.
The school board talked about the issue in a closed session. Clark said he's going to meet with the superintendent on Wednesday.
