In a video posted to Facebook by Prince Njoku, Denton High School Assistant Principal Howard Palmer was heard in a meeting with parents after he allegedly told students to “turn off their n—– music.”
“My daughter called me, pretty irate because she was in class [when] a student informed her Mr. Palmer told him to turn his n—– music off,” Njoku, who recorded the video, can be heard saying around the 4:00 minute mark. “And she thought he was joking, came down here, asked Mr. Palmer. Mr. Palmer told her the same thing.”
The parent went on to say that when he came up to the school, Palmer told him that “‘I said that I don’t want to hear music that has the word n—– in it.’”
“Mr. Palmer, you shouldn’t be saying that anyway,” Njoku said. “You can just tell them to turn the music down.”
In the video, Palmer said “that’s what you’re hearing.”
“What I told that young man is I don’t want to hear the word n—– … I don’t want to hear music with the word n—–,” Palmer said.
“Well, you shouldn’t be using that word if the music was a problem to you, Mr. Palmer,” Njoku responded. “You could have just [said] ‘hey turn the music down.’ And then you try to chalk the use of the word up to cultural differences. That’s what I’m perplexed by because you’re old enough to know the impactfulness of that word.”
As of publication, there are more than 80 Facebook comments on the video, most of them condemning Palmer for his alleged language.
“I’m incredibly disappointed and infuriated but unfortunately not surprised as a former DHS student,” one Facebook user wrote. “Shame that a member of staff, one that is surrounded by a diverse student body, would ever think that language is tolerable.”
Another Facebook user said they were “sorry this situation happened.”
“It was completely wrong of him to use that word in ANY context,” the user wrote. “He didn’t even seem concerned that he had used that word. That’s the most worrisome part to me. How many other children has he said stuff like this [to]?”
In a post before the video, Njoku wrote, “I have filed a formal complaint with the school and I advise if you have an African American student under this principal to be very cautious when dealing with him.”
On Twitter, one user screenshot an email they sent Denton High School Principal Joel Hays, who said, “Thank you for the contact and concern. Please be assured that Denton ISD administration is addressing the situation.”
North Texas Daily has contacted Njoki and Hays for comment, and this story will be updated when and if they respond.
When an email was sent to Palmer, an automatic reply was received that said, “I will be out of the office this week, but will respond to e-mail as appropriate.”
This story is developing.
Featured Image: Denton High School Assistant Principal Howard Palmer. Courtesy Denton High School.
Article Originally Published by on North Texas Daily
Source: North Texas Daily