Post News: Security guard fired from Madison high school for telling a student not to use the N-word has been reinstated (school board has to ‘grapple with complexity’)

Last week, we told you about Marlon Anderson, the security guard at West High School in Madison, Wisconsin, who was fired for using the N-word when he told a verbally abusive student not to call him one. Because zero tolerance policies are totally foolproof and not at all counterproductive. Well, to her credit, Cher offered to pay Anderson’s legal expenses if he chose to sue the district. We’re not sure if it was Cher’s offer that shifted the pendulum back in Anderson’s favor, the public outcry, or school administrators growing a conscience, but Anderson’s been reinstated in his former position at the high school:

Here’s Anderson’s Facebook post:

Earlier on Monday, Madison School Board President Gloria Reyes asked the district’s superintendent to rescind Anderson’s termination.

“Going forward, we will review our practice and we remain dedicated to protecting our students and staff from harm by implementing practices that are reflective of the humanity involved,” Reyes said in the statement. “We will grapple with complexity and assess it through a lens of deep racial equity.”

There was nothing complex about this case. Anderson did nothing wrong and was punished anyway.