Essex Westford School District provides teachers with resources from Learning for Justice; one resource teaches that the “n-word” can mean “friend”

The Essex Westford School District has a page online titled “Resources for Teachers/Professional Staff.” Multiple resources provided by the school district for teachers to use are from the political organization Learning for Justice, which is part of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). One resource is a link to Learning for Justice’s homepage. The organization promotes implementing racial equity and gender ideology into the curricula taught to students.

Another resource from Learning for Justice that the school district promotes is titled “Straight Talk About the N-Word.” Learning for Justice attempts to make the argument in the resource that the slur can mean “friend.” The organization explains:

The n-word is unique in the English language. On one hand, it is the ultimate insult—a word that has tormented generations of African Americans. Yet over time, it has become a popular term of endearment by the descendants of the very people who once had to endure it. Among many young people today—Black and white—the n-word can mean friend.

Learning for Justice is an organization that has pushed for its “Social Justice Standards” to be adopted in schools throughout the country. The document for these standards includes goals to achieve for students. One goal is that “students will develop language and historical and cultural knowledge that affirm and accurately describe their membership in multiple identity groups.” Another goal appears to outright state that the purpose of the “Social Justice Standards” is to turn students into political activists: “Students will make principled decisions about when and how to take a stand against bias and injustice in their everyday lives and will do so despite negative peer or group pressure.”