Livingston bus driver accused of calling a 7th grade girl the n word

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I’m not surprised this is from Livingston parish. As a father of a biracial son I hope my son never has to be called that word.


“N***er or negro.”
“She does not need to be called any kind of n-word, not negro, not n***er, why, because she’s human.”

Upset by the use of a racial slur, Leslie Bartholomew said, what happened on her child’s school bus is out of order.

“for them words to even be used is not okay”

Bartholomew said, her daughter Lyric was arguing on the bus with a boy who first called her child the racial slur. She said, after the incident, the driver repeated it.


Lyric said, “She called me to the front of the bus when she was bringing us home and she asked me what n-word did I want him to say.”

Video from the bus shows the 7th grader getting upset by that question. Cell phone video recorded outside the bus then shows the driver apologizing.

“My child should not have to deal with no kind of racism coming from a bus driver. What you said was very racist, what you said was very racist. “

“I apologize.”

In a statement, Livingston Parish Public Schools Superintendent Alan Murphy said, “LPPS is in the process of investigating this incident and will comply as directed by our attorney.”

“You clearly said, I didn’t mean it that way so you clearly know what you said.”

Eugene Weatherspoon with the NAACP said, LPPS needs to take immediate action.

“Take her off the bus until the investigation is complete. I think that will be the only way to show this child the proper respect she deserves” said Weatherspoon.

“It’s been so heavy on my heart and my mind because I feel like my children should not have to go through this, they should never have to deal with it from an adult in the school system, never” said Bartholomew