Story highlights Students say a white teacher used the N-word during a lesson

Some black students say it wasn't appropriate

(CNN) An impromptu assembly on race took place at a New Orleans school after a black student and a white teacher argued about the use of the N-word.

Video posted from the classroom at Ben Franklin High School shows the pair, both male, arguing Thursday about whether it is appropriate for white people to use term. The student said it was not appropriate, while the teacher held it was acceptable if part of a class.

When the student reacted angrily to the teacher's use of the racial slur, the teacher responded, "You cannot go through life like a word can affect you."

"N**** is racist for a white man to say to a black man," the student explained to the teacher.

The student went to the principal's office to talk about the incident. "I could see he was very upset," Patrick Widhalm, the head of school, told CNN. Widhalm said he knows the student and has a lot of respect for him.

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