Teacher suspended after playing allegedly racist song in class

CLEVELAND COUNTY, North Carolina -- A North Carolina teacher is accused of playing a racist song in the classroom.

WSOC-TV reports "O'Susanna" was the song that was played.

The lyrics in the song are about slavery. The song was played to classroom of students at Washington Elementary School, in Cleveland County, North Carolina, near Charlotte.

"I think it was very offensive and very uncomfortable," says Harmony Washington, a black student and ninth grader who was in the class when the song was played last week.

Among the lyrics in the song were the N-word and a reference to killing 500 black people.

"That's appropriate?" asks Pastor Melvin Clay of Washington Missionary Baptist Church.

He was stunned the song was played. Pastor Clay's church is next door to the school.

The teacher who played the song has been suspended. Some people who have heard about the incident want the teacher fired.