Racist Teacher Gives 4th Grade Students "Bum of the Week" Award [View all]

[Rose Siding]

I just do not get it. Does "bum" have a new meaning I'm not hip enough to know? Is the term used affectionately in Texas?

From the article about her racism:

Fitzgibbons started the post by saying a McKinney police officer’s resignation after a dispute at a swimming pool made her angry and that the officer should not have to resign.

“I’m going to just go ahead and say it ... the blacks are the ones causing the problems and this ‘racial tension.’ I guess that’s what happens when you flunk out of school and have no education. I’m sure their parents are just as guilty for not knowing what their kids were doing; or knew it and didn’t care. I’m almost to the point of wanting them all segregated on one side of town so they can hurt each other and leave the innocent people alone. Maybe the 50s and 60s were really on to something. Now, let the bashing of my true and honest opinion begin....GO! #imnotracist #imsickofthemcausingtrouble #itwasatagedcommunity,” the Facebook post stated.

Fitzgibbons insisted the post “was not directed at any one person or group.”

http://lubbockonline.com/education/2015-06-10/frenship-isd-teacher-apologizes-after-mckinney-related-segregation-post#.VXm0Xc9Vikq

The write-up included something about an apology which I was unable to locate.

Because her employers haven't acted I visited the school's website. There, on the page for her class, I found her "Bum of the Week" recipients. I'm not linking to that page because of all the sweet faces under the word "Bum". If you must see it, the classroom websites are navigated to easily from school's homepage (which includes contact information for the principal) - http://www.frenship.us/Page/17

Am I nuts? If the awards haven't been contested by parents, am I missing something? Are 4th graders senses of self-deprecating humor that well developed? Or is the teacher's joke just a passive aggressive expression of her previously private racism?

bum 1 (bŭm)
n.
1. A tramp; a vagrant.
2. A lazy or shiftless person, especially one who seeks to live solely by the support of others.
3. An incompetent, insignificant, or obnoxious person: The batter called the pitcher a bum.
4. One who spends a lot of time doing a particular recreational activity: a beach bum; a ski bum.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/bum