[alisasny]

Why isnt this covered under free speech? So a professor of higher ed. is free to call for the deaths of our soldiers during war....

[lilylangtree]

If approved, the woman milked the college for $49,000 with her lawyer receiving up to 1/2. Does receiving the money make her feel better about herself? Does she change history? That remains to be seen.

[husky ed]

How much do I get for always being called "The Man"?

[muawiyah]

Easy to fail to see where the "university system" said anything bad about the woman. Her complaint is with the individual who opened his mouth - she should sue him. The "university system" seems to have almost immediately arranged for his quick exit.

The only lesson in this is the old one - sue the people with the deep pockets - not likely an unemployed ex-official is going to be able to pay anything at all.

[FreedomCalls]

"Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me."

[muawiyah]

There's also a very serious ethical problem here. The woman's husband, Assemblyman Wendell Williams, D-Las Vegas, is chairman of the Assembly Education Committee.

He says there is no conflict of interest because his wife has a right to sue. On the other hand Nevada is a common property state and whatever his wife gets goes straight into his pockets!

There have been other elected officials prosecuted for less in federal court.

Now if somebody had said these two were "thieves", there'd be nothing to sue about now would there?

[LibKill]

Acting against advice from their chief attorney, state university system officials have offered a $49,000 settlement to the wife of a key state lawmaker after a former community college administrator made a racially offensive reference to her.

WTFF? Someone called her a n----r and she didn't slap him silly? That's what I would do, never mind the money.

[Dionysius]

If "African-American" had been substituted for the N-word, would it still have been a racial slur?

[joesnuffy]

she just proved them correct

[dennisw]

Anyone who wants can call me a "greedy, swarthy, obnoxious, hook-nosed, beanie-wearing, matzo-eating, Christ-killing Jew Hebe Hymie Kike" if it'll net me $10,000.

[Sweet_Sunflower29]

"The uttering of a racial slur on one occasion does not give rise to a federal cause of action," he said. "It does not violate your constitutional rights, although it may be reprehensible."

Oh, I have complete confidence that some little weasel of an attorney somewhere is going to be able to figure a way out of *that* minor loophole...

[CGTRWK]

Insane overreactions to trivial incidents like this are a large part of why racial epithets are used in the first place.

[Atlas Sneezed]

I think that the state officials who offered this generous settlement should have been more niggardly.

[Xenalyte]

Zelda Williams is the wife of Assemblyman Wendell Williams, D-Las Vegas, chairman of the Assembly Education Committee. The committee proposes and reviews legislation that deals with the state's public school systems and higher education.

When did y'all move to Sin City?

[Sister_T]

What? How did this man know she was black for him to make this comment? Are all white people punctual? Where does he get off making comments like this? Did he know this woman personally to make such an assessment or, in typical racist fashion, he just assumed all blacks were like that, based on the FEW that he's probably met? It's a trip how whites don't like to be painted with a broad brush by blacks (i.e. all whites are racists) yet some seem to have no problem tarring all black people like that. Amazing!

I guess I'll be the dissenting view and say that I'm glad the woman got that settlement and only wished she would have taken this to court. Fact is, that college is responsible for the actions of their faculty. Some say that she should have sued the man only, not the school but I disagree. Call me liberal or whatever but this man's racist feelings didn't just "pop up" out of nowhere and no one can convince me that someone in the school didn't know about them. He probably was saying all manner of racist garbage for months or years. This time, though, the "right" person heard his racist spew and he got caught.

Sticks and stones, my foot! This word has been used to denigrate blacks for years. And before anyone "goes there" and brings up the rappers, don't waste your time. I don't support them or their use of this word. It only gives racists the excuse to keep using it.

I'm with her husband. She should have taken this to court.