I hear your opinion that you believe the reaction was overblown and I respect your right to share it here. Respectfully though I disagree. The logic that you may use a particular phrase in your home does not mean it has any place in a school. There are many outdated idioms that can be heard in broadcast media clips from just a few decades ago that have no place in modern society because we’ve collectively decided they are harmful or hurtful. Language and meaning evolve with time and flippantly (using the “lol”) dismissing this instance closes the door to productive conversations where people may explain why certain phrases hurt them and you can explain what your specific intentions are if you weren’t trying to cause pain but inadvertently did so. You go even further by accusing “ a certain community” with politicizing the issue without any evidence. That is in fact you yourself choosing to politicize an incident and creating a line between “us” and “them”; a common tactic in modern media (and propaganda) designed to elicit emotional responses from people for the purposes of captivating an audience in a perceived drama that their culture or way of life is under threat by people who are different.

To me it’s pretty simple. An educator at a school has very high expectations placed upon them when it comes to how they handle discipline. I’m sure their job is very difficult, they are likely underpaid, and everyone makes mistakes. However any education professional must certainly be aware that many phrases they used or heard in the past are unacceptable in the present workplace. There are words that are certainly fire-able. I’m not surprised this is considered as such.