A Capistrano Unified School District trustee said the N-word during a board discussion this week on whether to include the novel “James” in the district’s curriculum, prompting complaints and calls for discipline from the community.

“James,” by author Percival Everett, was published in 2024 and is a reworking of “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” from the perspective of Jim, an enslaved runaway. “James,” like the Mark Twain classic, repeatedly uses the N-word. The school board’s discussion of the book at its Wednesday, March 12, meeting drew several speakers in support, along with educators who hope to teach the novel.

Judy Bullockus, a trustee representing the district’s Area 7, praised the novel during the meeting. Before voting on its approval, she detailed what she liked about the novel’s protagonist. She once referenced the “N-word” without using the actual slur, and then later in her comment she said the racial slur.

“What I especially loved about the book, and while we’re talking about the N-word, is why they were referred to that,” Bullockus said. “And James with dignity, with being about family, his character, I mean, he ended up having to do some bad things, but I mean, what went through him every time he thought about Katie? Him being hidden in the room when she was being raped? And it came back to him and came back to him … it just showed him not as just some dumb (racial slur), but a very smart, compassionate, real person. And that’s the best part to me that came out in the book, is the character building and the relationships … he was pretty smart to kind of know what was coming.”

Bullockus was not reading from the book when she said the racial slur.

On Friday, Bullockus in a written statement apologized “for my choice of words,” saying “it was never my intention to hurt or offend anyone.”

“I was trying to share in our discussion how awful the characterization is in contrast to the true character of James, who possessed dignity, compassion and love for family and people,” Bullockus said. “By verbalizing the degrading words, the perspective I was trying to express was completely lost. I should have been more eloquent in conveying my true appreciation for the novel. I’m terribly sorry a good discussion ended on a very bad note based on my indiscretion.”

Ryan Burris, a spokesperson for the district, said in a statement the word is not one the district condones using, even in the context of the board’s discussion “about how teachers approach the use of racial epithets in the literature they are using in their advanced high school classrooms.”

“What happened at the board meeting does not meet the high expectations we want to model for our students, families and staff,” Burris said. “We appreciate that we are a public school district that serves a diverse community and we are committed to supporting thoughtful and intellectually stimulating conversations about race and culture.”

He added that the district trusts teachers will do “an outstanding job ” adding the novel to courses.

“James” got unanimous approval from the board. None of the trustees brought up Bullockus’ use of the racial slur.

An excerpt of Bullockus’s comments posted on social media has led to some community members expressing shock and calling for consequences for her remarks.

Marc Rahming, a Black father of two students in the district, said his family has been forced to move his children to different schools and recently a new area of South Orange County because of the racism.

“They’re trying to really normalize it,” he said of the slur’s use. “That’s why she could say it so casually without blinking an eye.

“When it happens in the community,” he added, “no one does anything about it or says anything about it, almost like it’s commonplace.”

Sherine Smith, a former principal and deputy superintendent of education in the district, was at the board meeting and said she was shocked when the racial slur was uttered.

“You could actually hear people gasp,” Smith said. “All the oxygen went out of the room because it was so shocking.”

“She should know better. She’s a member elected to represent a community,” Smith added. “When she uses a term like that in public, it gives permission to other people to use that term.”

The district has had incidents in the past where racist comments have been made and measures were then put in place to address them, Smith said. Smith said that if she, as a former principal, used that word, her career would have likely been over.

“You have to be thoughtful and judicious about the language you use,” Smith said, “and that is a very dehumanizing term.”

A public commenter also said the N-word while talking in support of the book and said they read the book because it was on former President Barack Obama’s reading list.

Bullockus, during the meeting, raised concerns about how “James” could be read aloud in class.

Kelsey Torres, one of the high school teachers who wanted to teach the book and submitted it for approval, responded by explaining that the school has done several trainings to help teachers feel comfortable teaching books with the word and understand the current feelings surrounding the word. “James” would not be the first book the school teaches that has the word, she said.

Torres said the high school had an incident a few years ago when a teacher was filmed reading the N-word out loud from a book and was reported. The educator felt betrayed, Torres said, since it was not brought up with the teacher before being made into a bigger issue and hadn’t been an issue in previous years.

Torres added that “James” is unique because it’s written by an author who has had the N-word directed at them and “also takes into account when people use these words meaning no harm at all.”

Related Articles