Parents outraged after teacher calls biracial middle schooler a 'mutt'

(WJBK) - Parents of a biracial student are angry after a middle school teacher asked their son if he was a "mutt."

"We were doing our work ... and she said I have beautiful curls, and she asked if I'm a mutt. And I asked what does that mean? She said that means if you're mixed with a whole bunch of different races," Kaden Brown said.

Brown, 11, says that's what his 4th hour Language Arts teacher at Wolfe Middle School asked him Wednesday afternoon in the classroom, and he told his mother later that evening at home.

"I asked him again, 'What did you say?' He said my teacher asked me if I was a mutt," his mother Liane Banks said.

Kaden also told his mother another kid in the classroom started laughing at him following the teacher's question.

"His classmate kind of chuckled as he said, 'Well I'm black and I'm white.' The classmate was already laughing at him because he was black and white, mixed culture. He was a 'mutt' according to her," Banks said.

The parents met with the assistant principal at Wolfe Middle School Thursday afternoon and Kaden's father recorded the meeting.

Meanwhile, mom and dad say they're still waiting on a resolution.

"We were told we would get a phone call today, which we have not yet from the principal. They said we would investigate the matter further to see what the truth is. That's what we were told. Now he didn't say Kaden was lying, but he said we need to find out what the truth is," Banks said.

Kaden says he's also been called the N-word before at the school by some students and now he questions his own identity.

"I don't really want to be two different races now, because people ask me if I'm adopted because I'm mixed," he said.

His father Kevin Brown says this alleged incident touches on a certain kind of racism that is often not talked about.

"One of the issues that we really need to discuss is how biracial people are treated. They're not black enough for black people, and they're not white enough for white people. So now they're feeling left alone. They have a void within themselves that needs to be filled. And it's not right that my son has to deal with an issue like this so early," he said.

Banks says it's a racist statement on many levels.

"It can be a racist statement if you're white, Mexican, it doesn't matter what it is, it's a racist statement," she said.

Kaden's parents decided to have him hold a sign and post it on social media. It says I am not a mutt.

"I wanted people to realize what happened and that this could not happen," his father said.

The parents are still hoping to speak with the teacher at some point, but meanwhile mom wants to set the record straight.

"A mutt is a dog, a mixed breed, an in-pure breed, and that's not my son," Banks said.

Whatever the outcome is, these two parents say their son is brave for speaking up.

Kaden says his parents have told him he's great the way he is.

"God created me for a reason," he said.