YPSILANTI, Mich. – A Ypsilanti high school student is calling out the school district after one of his teachers used rap lyrics with a racial slur for a world history class assignment.

Steven Craig, a sophomore at Ypsilanti Community High School, told Mlive.com his teacher recently handed out an assignment about racial slurs that included lyrics by rapper Nas from a song “Be a N****r Too,” as well as other materials, then asked students to craft a one-page essay about why the slurs are bad.

“I was confused because never in our lives at school have we talked about the ‘N’ word,” Craig told the news site. “I don’t see the educational value in it.”

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The student’s grandmother and guardian also raised issues about the assignment because it focused on a derogatory term for one race, rather than a broader discussion about insensitive terms used for various races.

“If they want to teach it in the classroom they should include all nationalities and discuss the words to describe them all,” Dorcus McEwin, the boy’s grandmother, told Mlive.

“I feel that (focusing on only black racial slurs) is derogatory,” she said. “I don’t know what the meaning was for (the teacher) to use this word. Unless (the teacher) was trying to desensitize the kids from using the word.”

McEwin also thought parents should be notified ahead of time when teachers discuss sensitive topics like racial slurs so they can talk with the could discuss what was learned in class, according to the news site.

District superintendent Lauro Lisiscki defended the assignment, although she said the school’s principal will talk with the students and teacher involved to determine if anyone was offended.

“It’s our responsibility to make our students aware of their surroundings and the positive or negative impact that they can make in their own community,” Lisiscki told the news site. “How else do we teach our kids why not to use certain phrases?”

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Craig said the reaction of his classmates to the assignment was mixed. Some were upset by it, others thought it was a joke, he said.

“Craig said the teacher in his class is white and many of the students were confused why the teacher was using the word in class,” Mlive reports. “Craig described the teacher as reluctant to use the word until students told him to.”

The situation created quite a lively discussion online.

“This is World History, not Socioeconomics … this is a high school class not college. I 100% disagree with this teacher. There are 500 other topics that could and should be discussed in this class and a rap song and a racial slur is completely inappropriate,” community102 posed to Mlive.

“What if a student or parents do not wish to be exposed to rap music of this type? At what age is it appropriate to expose students to this lesson? Would it be okay if a teacher exposed high school students to songs about ‘white power’ then asked them to write about them?” questioned Ron Granger.

Sandy Castle lashed out at the student for raising issues with the assignment.

“A search of this kids Facebook friends shows he associates with people who use this term casually,” she posted to Mlive. “Yet he and his grandmother are concerned about the school fiving out an assignment about the use of the term? Sounds like a grab for attention.”

Others thought the assignment was no big deal.

“I don’t see this topic as so exceedingly disturbing as to require parental notification ahead of time,” Janav posed.

“By that measure, students shouldn’t be taught about the horrors of the middle passage or chattel slavery, Japanese internment, pretty much any war, the Spanish Inquisition … well, just about anything in history, without parental notification.”